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Oatmeal Gruel

A simple oatmeal gruel made with boiling water, oatmeal, salt, and Bovril, simmered for hours.

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

Oatmeal Gruel

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the oatmeal

  1. In a saucepan, bring the water to a boil.

  2. Sprinkle in the oatmeal while stirring well.

  3. Cover the saucepan and reduce heat to simmer for 2 hours.

Season and serve

  1. After 2 hours, add the Bovril and salt, and cook for an additional 5 minutes.

  2. Strain if desired before serving.

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
Its starch swells in the hot water and thickens the liquid into a gruel.
Bovril
Adds a concentrated savory, meaty flavour that deepens the gruel's taste.

The step that matters

Sprinkling in the oatmeal while stirring well. Dry oatmeal hits hot liquid and its outer starch swells quickly, forming lumps that trap dry centres. Stirring while adding it disperses the grains so they hydrate evenly and the gruel cooks smooth.

“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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