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To Make Thick Gruel

A thick oatmeal gruel made by mixing oatmeal with cold water, adding boiling water, boiling, and straining.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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To Make Thick Gruel

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a quart basin, mix the oatmeal and cold water until well combined.

  2. Gradually add the boiling water, stirring continuously.

  3. Transfer the mixture to a clean saucepan and bring to a boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent burning.

  4. Strain through a fine sieve into a basin and serve.

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 liquid as it heats and gelatinises.
Boiling water
Hydrates the starch so the mixture thickens into a smooth gruel.

The step that matters

Boiling with constant stirring. Oatmeal starch settles and scorches on the base of the pan if not stirred, and the starch only thickens fully once it has been heated to a boil. Constant stirring keeps the mixture smooth and prevents burning.

“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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