Basics. How to Cook Oatmeal from Oats...without a packet and a microwave.

[ChefTessBakeresse]

Good Old Fashioned Oatmeal


Gourmet simple. This is it...

Oatmeal at it's finest, to me, has to have texture and still have it's shape. Hearty and satisfying. It's a basic skill to make oatmeal from scratch without one of those little pre-measured packets and a microwave. Let's face it, it doesn't do any good to have those #10 cans of rolled oats if you don't know how to cook them! At the last cannery visit I did with my Stake, a gal was loading up her cans of oats and actually asked, "hey...how do you cook oatmeal?!". I was happy to show her the label, but I think it could use a play by play tutorial if you like good oatmeal.


This is a double boiler, just like the one my grandma used to use for making oatmeal.

I am almost embarrassed to write about this, however I have very strong opinions about oatmeal. When I was growing up, my grand ma-ma used to make oatmeal in a double boiler cooked over low heat for a long time. It was really creamy, but not a texture I appreciated. I love my grandma. I don't think I can honestly say I ever enjoyed that oatmeal. It has taken me a long time to admit that. If she where alive I would never,never, never be able to post this because I think so highly of her. I would never in a billion ka-zillion years want to ever offend her. I learned to sew on her machine. I learned to appreciate home canning sitting at her table stuffing apricots from her tree into mason jars in her tiny kitchen. Her carrot pudding with lemon sauce was the most magical thing I ever ate. However...the oatmeal...sorry. I can't accept it. I have tried...

This is not how to make that creamy stuff. I won't be using the double boiler. I prefer a texture filled hearty bowl of separate rolled grains. I like them al dente. Not a glue like gelatinous mass of goo. Not a big fan of instant oatmeal while we are at it. Personally my favorite are the old fashioned rolled oats. Here is how I make them.
3 1/2 cups water

2 cups old fashioned rolled oats

pinch of salt


On medium high heat, boil the water in a 1 1/2 quart saucepan with the salt.

Add the oat all at once (ONLY if the water is at a rolling boil...and I mean rollin'). See the rolls like a double chin? That's the stuff.

Once the oats are poured in, stir for 2-3 minutes until cooked through. Turn off the heat.

It will carry over cook. Don't stir, just allow it to sit there about 5 minutes. This is perfect time to gather all the toppings for "build-your-own-oatmeal-bar". It's one of our staple breakfasts around here.

Scoop into bowls and serve hot with chopped fresh or dried fruit, honey, sugar, or maple syrup. We like ours with raisins, coconut, pumpkin seeds, cinnamon and spice...chocolate chips. I know, again with the chocolate right?!
Serve on a crisp gingham table cloth with toppings...or whatever. Eat them right from the pan with a wooden spoon for all I care.


Enjoy.

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[loghomebldr]

Hey this is good stuff. Tried it cooked this way today. We don't like the creamy-glue stuff either. I need to do a little refining but this was way good (we're at 5400 ft).

When I added the oats to the really rolling water (with double-chins!) I had to lift one side of the pan off the heat to keep it from boiling over. After I let it sit for the 5 minutes there was still just a little water left in the oatmeal, I'll reduce the amount of water next time and see if that helps, will that help?

Usually we cook our oatmeal fast, but we leave it on the heat until all the water is gone, thus a goodly amount of oatmeal sticks to the bottom of the pan and it's just a little gluey. Cooking it the Chef Tess way there was NO oats stuck to the bottom of the pan.

Excellent!!!

Chef Tess ROCKS!!!

[ChefTessBakeresse]

Well, thank you very much. Love good feedback like that! Blush blush. Reducing the amount of water will help if you like a thicker oatmeal. 5400 feet your water will boil at a lower temperature, so it may take a little longer than the 5 minutes to cook fully as well. So glad I could be of service.