On Thanksgiving day when all the stores are closed and I need to make mashed sweet potatoes, she says, we don't have a potato masher.  Hmmmm!  This is not anything impressive, but an emergency tool.  And, yes, after it was all cleaned up, it was hidden.    Her MS memory is the pits, so I'll try to get through it.  My son said, you can turn a muddler.  So to the garage and found a limb of wild cherry.  Here is what came out.  

 

The business end.  I need to open those bandsaw cuts up as reverse wedges.  They will clean better and allow the foods to channel up.  

 

 

the handle end.  Yes, it cracked as it turned.  I had not protected it, but it had been in the garage for several years now.  

 

 

It did the job.  Even the daughter-in-law enjoyed them.  Yep, it's just baked and smashed sweet potatoes.  Later came the brown sugar, melted butter and chopped pecans on top.  But, for about an hour, this is what I came up with.  Nothing fancy, but practicable.  Now, you have an idea and can modify it to make it pretty, more functional or just simply ignore.  I just thought I would share the fastest turning of my life.  

Edited December 2, 20196 yr by FlGatorwood
additonal thoughts

Nice save on the day. Don't think I would reuse it unless you clean out the cracks and put in epoxy. Intact wooden utensils are the safest as far as bacteria because the wood will kill bacteria but cracks do not count in that formula but oin my opinion increase the chance of something bad staying alive.

Now that's just plain COOL!

Necessity is the mother of invention, nice work. 

Nice! A new tradition is born.

I am going to try to open those bandsaw cuts into a wedge so it will be easier to clean.  I have looked at muddlers and they have bigger voids, so will open it.  Gerald, I think that is an excellent idea of coating the bandsaw cuts with epoxy.  Thank you for that.  I made it too long, but it did the job.  Now, that I've had time to look at it and consider Geralds comments, I have some modifications to do.  My son told me that I could sell them to the local bars as muddlers.  That sounds like a job.  No, notta.  

good save

Thanks, all.  Just an idea I never had before.  

Great job Steve, and useful to boot!

Our last two potato mashers have been about 2 1/2 inch diameter pieces of firewood that I sanded down smooth, they work great.  For cleaning them we wash them a few times and then I run them on the sander again to remove anything that has potentially embedded into the wood.  That is all I have used for mashing potatoes for the last 12 years or so.  

 

After getting the basic mash then I move on to the electric mixer to get that nice fluffy creamy texture going.  I also use the potato masher when I make my refried beans as well, I cook them over night in the crock pot and use the wood/stick masher to break them all up and then I run the electric mixer through them to make them nice and creamy and mix in the spices and ingredients properly.

 

I can't say that I had ever thought of making one that fancy though, I have just removed any bark that might fall off and sanded them smooth.