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Oatmeal Porridge

A simple porridge made by boiling water and oats.

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

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Boil the water in a saucepan.

  2. Stir in the oats.

Cook

  1. Place the saucepan on the side of the stove on an asbestos mat.

  2. Stir occasionally to prevent burning.

  3. For thinner porridge, use 1 cup of oats to 1½ pints of water.

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

Oats
Their starch absorbs water and swells as it cooks, thickening the porridge.
Water
Hydrates the oat starch and forms the liquid body of the porridge.

The step that matters

Keep the heat gentle and stir occasionally. Oat starch thickens as it absorbs water and can settle onto the base of the pan, where it scorches. Setting the saucepan at the side of the stove keeps the heat low, and regular stirring keeps the starch suspended so the porridge cooks evenly.

“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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