It's probably the amount of water in them. Starch freezes beautifully. Fat freezes beautifully. Water crystallizes over time, so the longer it's in the freezer, the more water will migrate and form crystals. Therefore, if you use a high enough temperature to steam the naturally occurring water out of the potatoes (i.e., thicken them), and use cream instead of milk (milk having a lot of water, whereas cream has a lot of fat) to enrich them, it'll freeze and defrost better.

It could also be how it was packaged (go for the least air possible), and whether your freezer self-defrosts (i.e., rises in temperature), rather than manual defrost or using evaporator technology. Self-defrost shortens the time something will hold in the freezer immensely.

Ok, thank you. Sounds like the type of potatoes and cooking method aren't significant factors, which I was wondering about. I didn't have any cream - used whole milk, full fat sour cream and some butter. I believe our freezer is self-defrost, so I guess that is a factor as well. Thank you!

Sure, but what I was saying, actually, is that the type of potatoes and cooking method are factors, because some potatoes have more water in them and some methods of preparation steam or press more water out. There is water in the full fat milk, but more probably comes from the potatoes. You can use evaporated milk instead, to reduce some of the water in the milk. But then the consistency would be different, and your point was for it to be the same.

Your best bet would be to experiment.

I freeze mashed potatoes all the time when I have left overs. I just put them in a plastic container and freeze them. When I heat them, I put them in a corning casserole dish and microwave to heat them, once heated I will rewhip them...sometimes they may need a little more milk or something. I would be using russets.

I also freeze mashed potatoes successfully. I used to freeze them in muffin cups so the girls could just thaw and reheat. I usually used russets because that's what I grew and they got used for everything. When reheating I would thaw the potatoes, add a good pat of butter and whip them up with a fork. I always made sure they were pretty "thick" when I made them to freeze, and then I could add additional butter or milk without making them too soft.

I agree that cream is better, but milk is what I usually had.

Annie

I add sour cream (or drained kefir curd) and cream cheese to make freezer mashed potatoes. I think this mixture will last in the freezer longer and not be as "wet" after it is thawed. I normally use Yukon Gold potatoes, since that's what I grow. I'll use the larger potatoes for Twice Baked, and most of the rest of the crop gets used for Freezer Mashed Potatoes and boiled herbed potatoes, which I freeze and then pan fry.

It's difficult to keep Yukon Gold potatoes for very long in storage after they are harvested, so I freeze the majority of my small crop.

Our son gave us 40-pounds of blue potatoes from his garden and I've been converting them for the freezer, too. I've also been using them to make microwave potato chips ;-).

Here's a bit of information about the 6 types of potatoes and how to use them, and why one variety will work better for some applications that other varieties. As plllog pointed out, it's also about what potato you use. http://www.all-about-potatoes.com/types-of-potatoes.html

-Grainlady

Thanks for the great link Grainlady! Now I know why I have such a hard time keeping my Yukon golds from spoiling! I am making a lot of freezer foods for my dad now, so my next potato purchase will be russets!

Ok, thanks everyone. I only ever baked Idaho/Russet potatoes - never boiled them. Assuming you all boil your potatoes to make mashed potatoes? If I was making twice baked, I would use Russets and bake them, then scoop out the insides, mash with butter milk, etc. and put back in the potato shell. Thinking the oven "dries out" potatoes in a way boiling doesn't, which may help their texture after freezing.

For mashed potatoes, I like to use the pressure cooker. I can use much less water this way, and thus I find the potatoes more flavorful (and since I am at an elevation of over 6000 ft above sea level, it means they much faster, too). I have not tried freezing them yet as mashed potatoes are a rare left over but I imagine that the less water would certainly help.

I always bake potatoes whether mashed or twice baked and generally they are prepared with lots of butter, cheese, sour cream and hot milk and sometimes cream cheese.

I scoop them out of the baked shell, rice, then add whatever I want to add, then place back in the shells. A hybrid of traditional mashed and twice baked.

They freeze and reheat beautifully. I reheat one by defrosting in microwave then wrapping in foil and baking for awhile in a very hot oven. 500.

Thanks. I never thought about baking potatoes that were just going to be mashed. I might try it next time I know I'm going to freeze some as an experiment.

You can also "bake" potatoes in a crock-pot/slow-cooker.

Method 1: Scrub each potato, poke it with a fork several times, oil with olive oil, sprinkle with salt (optional), and wrapped tightly in foil. Place in slow-cooker, cover, and cook on HIGH for 4-1/2 to 5 hours, or on low for 7-1/2 to 8 hours.

Method 2: [The method I prefer.] Scrub each potato. Place in slow-cooker (as many as you like, or it will hold) - NO foil wrapping necessary. Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours, or until done (doneness will depend on the size of potatoes you use, and they will cook more evenly if you try to use all the same size potato).

Check the internet for more information and variations in the recipe.
You can use the extra "baked" potatoes for making:

-cooled, shredded for hash browns

-twice baked potatoes

-mashed potatoes

-cooled, cubed and fried

-baked potato cheese soup

-potato salad

A good way to keep the heat out of the kitchen in the summer, and get a weeks worth of potatoes ready.

-Grainlady

I wouldn't have thought potatoes would do well in a crock pot, thanks, I'll have to try the one without wrapping them in foil sometime!

Wow, there are a lot of mashed potato threads in trying to find this one! Anyway, I reheated some frozen mashed potatoes in the toaster oven tonight, and that made all the difference - microwaving makes them watery, but baking them dries them out just enough - glad I asked - thanks!