Cottage pie question

[Rosarosae]

I can never seem to get the topping right. I make the mash from scratch, out it on top of the meat mix and so on. When it comes out of the oven, the mash is always too soft, as if it had partially melted into the sauce underneath. What am I doing wrong?

Have you tried putting it together after the meat's cooled?
Do you add milk to the mash because that might make it more soggy?

Yes it sounds like your mash is too wet.
I steam the potatoes rather than boil them and don't add too much milk and no butter. You can also just fold the potato over a gentle heat after mashing to dry it.

Lay the potato to a good depth on top of the meat, fork some furrows across and dot a small amount of butter to help the top crisp and brown for serving.
HTH.

Thanks! I definitively put milk in my mash, probably too much. Your advice makes a lot of sense - a drier mash with butter on top should still make for a tasty mash without the soggyness. Will try it this week and report back!

Could also be that the meat part is too wet so that the potatoe sinks in.

I use red potatoes like Desiree for mashing, as they hold their shape better. Potatoes like Maris piper, which are fluffier, tend to go soggy and waterlogged, and make a wetter mash.

Great. OK, so the action plan is:

• red potatoes for mash
• not too much milk or butter (butter can be sprinkled on top)
• drier meat mixture

Thanks!

At the risk of creating controversy I make my meat mixture quite wet, but that's because I like some of it to bubble up at the sides and bake a little bit crusty

No milk in the mash! Just butter and beat it with a fork to make it fluffy.

I don't mind the gravy bubbling up a bit either, but I don't like the mash too soggy. Lots of cheese on top too...

Best way to make mash drier - once you have drained the potatoes after boiling them, leave them in the colander for a few mins before tipping them back into the pan. The potatoes dry out loads in this time. Then add plenty of butter and you will have mash that tastes rich and creamy but isn't at all soggy.

I add cheese to my mash on top of mine.

I am shit at making mash, so it's fresh microwave mash all the way.

And I let the beef cool down otherwise the mash sinks into the beef and creates a beefy liquid mash layer.

You can make the meat and the mash and assemble while still hot, put cheese on top and put under the grill to brown. This way the meat and mash don't have time to merge.

Or put the mash onto cool meat and then cook.

Either way I cook the meat bit for a long time and make sure that the sauce is very reduced and not watery.

I add cheese to the mash and sprinkle cheese on top as well.

Fantastic. Why has it never occurred to me that if both mash and meat are hot, grilling rather than roasting is fine? Genius!