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Oatmeal Porridge

A simple porridge made by boiling water and adding coarse 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

Thicken the oatmeal

  1. Bring the water to a boil.

  2. Sprinkle in the oatmeal while stirring continuously.

  3. Once thickened, move it to the side of the fire and stir occasionally.

Simmer slowly

  1. Cook for 45 minutes to 3 hours, depending on digestion needs.

  2. For better results, after boiling for 10 minutes, place the saucepan in a larger pot of boiling water to prevent burning.

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
Starch that swells in boiling water and thickens the porridge as it cooks.

The step that matters

Sprinkle in the oatmeal while stirring continuously. Oat starch swells quickly on contact with hot water, so dropping it in without constant stirring forms lumps and uneven thickness. Steady stirring disperses the grains before they gelatinize.

“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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