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Water Gruel

A simple gruel made by boiling water and adding oatmeal.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 2 ingredients
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Water Gruel

Water Gruel

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Bring the water to a boil over a slow fire.

  2. Mix the oatmeal with enough cold water to make a liquid mixture.

  3. Add the oatmeal mixture to the boiling water before it gets too hot.

  4. Stir continuously until it boils.

  5. Let it simmer longer over a slow fire for better flavor.

  6. If the gruel is too thick, add warm 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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Oatmeal
Forms the thickened body of the gruel as its starch swells in hot water.

The step that matters

Add the oatmeal mixture to the boiling water before it gets too hot. Oatmeal starch swells and thickens as it heats. Stirring the slurry into already boiling water and stirring continuously keeps it dispersed, so it thickens smoothly rather than clumping into 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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