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Drink

Oatmeal Water

A simple beverage made by boiling oatmeal in water, then straining and mixing with milk, sweetener, and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Oatmeal Water

Ingredients

Directions

Make the oatmeal water

  1. Boil 2 tablespoons of oatmeal in 1 quart of water for 4 hours or longer.

  2. Strain the mixture through muslin to collect the liquid.

Finish and season

  1. Mix the strained liquid with ½ to ⅔ of milk.

  2. Sweeten slightly and add a pinch of salt.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Oatmeal
Long boiling draws starch and flavor from the oats into the water, giving the liquid its taste and body.
Milk
Adds fat and creaminess, softening the thin oat liquid and rounding its flavor.
Sweetener
Adds sweetness that balances the mild, grainy flavor of the oats.

The step that matters

Boiling for 4 hours or longer. Long simmering slowly extracts starch and flavor from the oats. Water lost to evaporation concentrates the liquid, so the pot needs enough water to keep the oats covered for the full time.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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