Oatmeal Gruel
Ingredients
Directions
Make the porridge
Mix the oatmeal smoothly with the cold water.
Gradually pour in the boiling water while stirring continuously.
Transfer to a small saucepan and bring to a boil.
Let it simmer for 10 minutes until it becomes a smooth jelly.
Stir often to keep it smooth and prevent burning.
Finish and serve
Strain into a basin and add sugar or salt to taste.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Oatmeal
- Its starch thickens the water as it cooks, giving the porridge its body.
- Boiling water
- Hydrates the oat starch so it gelatinises and thickens into a smooth porridge.
The step that matters
Mix the oatmeal smoothly with the cold water. Starch grains clump when hot liquid meets dry oatmeal directly. Blending them into cold water first disperses the grains so they hydrate evenly, giving a smooth result rather than lumps.
“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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