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Oatmeal Porridge

A simple oatmeal porridge made by simmering oatmeal in water overnight and cooking until thick.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Oatmeal Porridge

Ingredients

Directions

Soak overnight

  1. Combine oatmeal and warm water in a double boiler.

  2. Let it sit overnight at the back of the range.

Cook and serve

  1. In the morning, fill the outer vessel with hot water and move the boiler to the front of the stove.

  2. Cook steadily for at least 30 minutes, up to 1 hour.

  3. Just before serving, beat the porridge with a wooden spoon.

  4. If too stiff, stir in a little boiling water.

  5. Add salt just before serving.

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

Fine ground oatmeal
Provides the starch that thickens the water into a porridge as it cooks.
Warm water
Hydrates the oat starch so it can swell and gelatinize during slow cooking.

The step that matters

Cook steadily over the long, gentle heat. Oat starch needs sustained, moderate heat to fully swell and gelatinize. Too little time leaves the porridge raw-tasting and thin, while vigorous boiling can scorch the bottom and make it gluey.

“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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