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Oatmeal Gruel

A simple porridge made by soaking oatmeal in cold water, then boiling and seasoning with salt.

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

Oatmeal Gruel

Ingredients

Directions

Soak the oatmeal

  1. Combine 1 cup fine oatmeal with 1 pint cold water in a bowl.

  2. Let the mixture stand for 30 minutes.

  3. Stir well and strain off the water.

Cook and serve

  1. Boil the oatmeal for 15 minutes.

  2. Strain again and add salt to taste.

  3. Serve hot, adding cream or milk if desired.

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

Fine oatmeal
Forms the body of the gruel as its starch thickens when cooked in water.
Cold water
Hydrates the oats during soaking and provides the liquid that carries them through cooking.

The step that matters

Soak, then strain before boiling. Soaking hydrates the oat starch and the straining step removes the soaking water, so the gruel cooks from a cleaner, evenly hydrated base instead of a cloudy, uneven one.

“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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