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Water Gruel

A simple gruel made from groats, plasmon, water, and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Water Gruel

Water Gruel

Ingredients

Directions

Make the gruel

  1. Mix the groats with a little cold water to form a smooth paste.

  2. Add the paste to the boiling water and stir gently until it boils.

  3. Let it boil for 2 hours.

Make the plasmon mix

  1. Mix the plasmon with a small amount of tepid water to a smooth paste.

  2. Add half a teacup of tepid water and heat in a small pan over the fire.

  3. Stir until it boils and then boil for 2 minutes.

Finish and serve

  1. When the gruel is ready, add the plasmon and salt, then 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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Robinson's patent groats
Thickens the water as its starch swells and gelatinises during boiling, giving the gruel body.
Plasmon
Adds protein and a mild, savoury richness that enriches the thin gruel.

The step that matters

Making the smooth groat paste before adding it to the boiling water. Dry groats added directly to liquid clump into lumps that stay raw inside. Mixing them first with cold water separates the particles, so they disperse evenly and thicken the gruel smoothly as the starch gelatinises.

“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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