Kitchen Tool Review: The Lamson Mini Potato Masher

Here is my new favorite kitchen tool, designed in the 1800s, that works great today.

My 20-year-old nylon potato masher had a circular "waffle" head 3-1/4 inches wide, looked dishwasher-battered and maybe toxic. At the local kitchen store I saw only a small masher with an oval 2-1/4-inch head and blades set like fish bones. That's a fey little avocado masher, I thought, when I'm a serious masher of big pots of potatoes, apples, squash, turnips and beans. I complained to the store owner. She actually uses her merchandise and I trust her. She said a food magazine had reviewed and praised this mini-masher, made by Lamson of Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, as the best all-purpose masher. The store had ordered a couple of dozen to keep pace with demand. They were very cheap, too, about $8.

I thought the Lamson Sharp Mini Masher was too small and too different. Its steel tines are sharp-edged, and it won't stand on end because the tines are set on a slightly convex curve. The owner reassured me and said to return it if I didn't like it.

As it turns out, this Mini Masher was copied from a kitchen tool used in the 1800s. Surprisingly, its smaller size is a plus, not a minus. Advantages:

• Fits better in the kitchen drawer
• Oval head design is a super-efficient cross between the circular head and the serpentine-wire head
• Sharp edges mash the foods quickly and thoroughly
• Potatoes are extra fluffy because the tines act like a ricer
• Reaches into the corners and sides of pots or bowls
• Unlike a larger masher, it is as usable in a one-quart saucepan as in eight-quart kettles (see photo)
• Forceful mashing won't bend or break it
• Stainless steel is non-toxic for sure
• The handle is comfortable

These traits combined make it one of my favorite kitchen tools, superior for potatoes. Lamson & Goodnow, established in 1837, manufactures knives from vintage designs and also a line of walnut-handled "Granny Tools." I appreciate USA-made items. My only complaint about the LamsonSharp Mini Masher (my model has three rivets in its handle that look like brass, but aren't) is that its edges are TOO sharp. Although not enough to cut flesh, the tines could scrape pans. The steel is stamped, not forged. Elegant it's not. A good tool it is.