Great British Baking Show Potato Masher

Prelude: Before we get into this post I think it merits a short tale. Have you ever hunted for something for days on the internet only to find out its basically sold at the Dollar Store? Well - that's where we are. I noticed the potato masher in Season 13 (Netflix collection 10) Episode 3, Janusz has it on his counter and we get a passing glance.

Well it had a little rose gold flourish that caught my eye. For the next 4 days I searched on every search engine I could think of, for every combination of "nylon potato masher rose gold ring wooden handle," I could imagined. And voila on day 4 there it was! A picture from Ebay! I had the brand - Nifty Kitchen Stuff - and a product name - "Potato masher with rose gold jointer." So I kept looking - and... nothing! Eventually I found that the brand is carried at Poundland - the UK's version of the Dollar Store. I finally found it on Amazon UK and the brand is "generic." It feels like I went on a multi-day journey to discover the treasure at the end was just a sack of empty soda cans. The masher is no longer sold in stores, and as far as I can tell was discontinued. There are a couple on Ebay and 7... yes 7 available on Amazon UK.

Through this endeavor I also found quite a few Tik Tok's of people showing off all their "Nifty Kitchen Stuff" swag from Poundland and expounding how it was going to change their lives. Its about as tongue and cheek as getting a steering wheel cover from the Dollar Store and saying how its going to produce an extreme driving experience. I'm glad these things are mocked on every continent.

Being that this site is wholly supported out of pocket and via what-ever click through Amazon affiliate purchases are made, it feels like I'm shooting myself in the foot with a post where the maximum number of sales is going to be 7 while I still have a massive back log... but I could not resist. This journey has been ridiculous. So without further ado:

The Great British Baking Show Potato Masher is the Nifty Kitchen Stuff Potato Masher with Rose Gold Jointer (Amazon UK). These potato mashers come from Poundland - the UK's equivalent to a Dollar Store - and look... fine.

The potato masher has a nylon masher that has been produced in a factory that must produce roughly 50% of the nylon masher heads in existence. It looks like it'd actually work pretty well, and as long as you're mashing straight down, and probably not break. From what I can tell - nearly 90% of mashers, at least the mashing head, is made of metal. This is great for washing and also applying a lot of pressure, as one tends to so while mashing.

The handle is made of "wood." I quote this because I can not tell what type of wood it is made from and they're reluctant to tell us.

Lastly - the distinguishing feature is the "rose gold jointer." This is the collar at the connection point between the nylon masher and the wooden handle. It's the feature that gave it away and let me track it down. I have strong doubts it is actually gold.

When all you need to do is smash some potatoes, I'm sure the Nifty Kitchen Stuff Potato Masher with Rose Gold Jointer is a perfectly adequate solution. It has decent looks and managed to find itself in the tent!

This is purely speculation, so take it with a grain of salt. But I imagine this is exactly how the Nifty Kitchen Stuff Potato Masher (Amazon UK) wound up in the tent.

So there was this intern sitting on a toad stool when all of a sudden Janusz needed a masher! The director ran out and proclaimed - my kingdom for a potato masher! The intern sprang into action, and oddly enough the closest utensil stockist to Welford Park happened to be a Poundland. Well the intern ran in with low hopes, as these kind of stores have a way about them, never having what you need out of spite. But voila! There it was the Nifty Kitchen Stuff Potato masher... complete with a rose gold jointer!

The intern purchased it an ran it back to the tent. The director exclaimed "* Potatoe Masher ,This durable, high-quality, and multifunctional Nylon non-stick Turner makes cooking easy by bringing a decor in Kitchen." Which was absolutely amazing, because that is exactly how Nifty Kitchen Products describes it! And on that day Janusz mashed away!

Otherwise, I'm not sure how this potato masher landed in the tent. It's quality is questionable, it's looks are average at best, and Colourworks makes some nicer looking ones that would have been a better fit with the tent's aesthetic. If they were looking for longevity and quality, they probably would have gone with a stainless steel masher. So lets follow that train of thought!

If you happen to live in the UK and want to brave a Poundland - well you're still probably out of luck. It seems like the mashers have been discontinued, but that could also just be a side effect of the Poundland website not being 100% accurate on their stock. The mashers were originally sold here, perhaps a few remain.

Your second best bet is to pick one up off of Amazon UK. To be fair they will ship to the US as well! Which means you could pay £18.99 to have this glorious (that is the wrong word) masher show up at your house. To be honest, I almost did this, just to examine the build quality in person, but could not bring myself to do so. I'll enjoy spending that money on almost anything else. Maybe some nice flour.

Lastly Ebay may have something - they helped me find the original images, but it seems like they're incredibly hit or miss.

So what to do?! Well, a good solution would be to buy a better or nicer looking... or both - potato masher! If you're putting some time and though into your masher - well hello there - thanks for reading thus far! I have some decent suggestions! For transparency I'm pretty sure I picked my Kitchenaid Masher up in a panic from Walmart before friends showed up for dinner which included home made mashed potatoes.

So like I mentioned, and we've seen in some other posts, Colourworks has some fun options. They've gone through 3 iterations all of which have nylon heads, which are good for non-stick pans. They also all come in a variety of colors - so take a good gander!

• Original 2 tone design - Potato Masher (Amazon - UK)
• Second iteration - solid color - Potato Masher (with little scoop thing). (Not available on Amazon US or UK)
• Third iteration, smoother form, solid color - I think these are released in the US as Colourworks by Farberware. (Amazon - available in a fun set - UK)

Despite the panic buy from Walmart, I do appreciate the KitchenAid Gourmet Stainless Steel Wire Masher (Amazon - UK). It has a metal masher (no good for non-stick, but great for metal pans and casserole dishes), and a plastic handle. Its dishwasher safe and rust resistant. The bottom of the handle has a little outcropping which helps with mashing things with a good amount of force. Additionally it comes in a few different colors. I like it.

So ultimately if you really want the masher from The Great British Baking Show - the Nifty Kitchen Stuff Potato Masher with Rose Gold Jointer (Amazon UK). There are like 7 left you can get your hands on, after that you're on a hunt. If you're just in the market for a nice masher, Colourworks makes a nice nylon one (for non-stick pans), and KitchenAid has a nice metal one.