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Oatmeal Porridge

A simple porridge made by boiling water and oatmeal, then simmering until thick.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 2 ingredients
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Oatmeal Porridge

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Boil 1 pint of water in a clean saucepan.

  2. Sift 2-3 ounces of oatmeal into the boiling water, spreading it evenly to avoid lumps.

  3. Return the saucepan to the heat and boil briskly for 1-2 minutes to mix well.

  4. Reduce heat and simmer for 3-15 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning and lumps.

  5. Ensure the porridge is stirred until all starch granules are fully burst.

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
Its starch thickens the water into porridge as the granules swell and burst during cooking.
Water
Hydrates the oatmeal starch, forming the liquid base that becomes the porridge.

The step that matters

Sifting the oatmeal into boiling water. Oatmeal dropped in clumps hydrates unevenly, and the outside of each clump gels before the inside wets, leaving lumps. Spreading it thinly and stirring keeps the starch dispersed so it thickens smoothly.

“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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