Oatmeal Gruel
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the oatmeal
Pound the oatmeal until it is mealy.
Place the oatmeal in a tumbler, add cold water, and stir well.
Let the mixture settle, then pour off the mealy water into a saucepan.
Repeat filling with water and pouring off, avoiding disturbance of the sediment.
Cook and serve
Boil the water for 20 minutes, stirring often.
Add salt; if too thick, add a little cream or milk.
Serve hot.
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
- Coarse oatmeal
- Provides the starch that thickens the water into a porridge as it cooks.
- Cream or milk
- Adds richness and softens the texture if the porridge becomes too thick.
The step that matters
Pouring off the mealy water without disturbing the sediment. Oatmeal settles quickly, and the heavier sediment holds the coarse, starchy grains. Disturbing it when pouring off the mealy water would send fine particles into the porridge and make it cloudy and gritty.
“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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