How to Cook Oatmeal

So . . . . What makes great Oatmeal?

A few things.

First: Stay away from 1 minute or ready to eat varieties of rolled oats. (I use Quaker Brand, Bob's Double Thick, and even generic brands).

I seem to remember older boxes saying cooks in 20 minutes, but now they say 5 minutes on the original/regular oatmeal. My method takes longer than 5 minutes - when coooking oatmeal, I turn the heat way low after adding the oats.

Second: Use a water to oatmeal ratio of 2 to 1.

• When using 3 or more cups of water, use slightly less water, say a 1/8 cup less, or add a little oatmeal. How much? A little -- a teaspoon, or slightly overfilled cup. If you're cooking lots of oatmeal in a wider, larger pot (not higher, but wider - with more surface area!) water will boil off faster -- don't reduce the water.
• That's the same as an oatmeal to water ratio of 1 to 2 !
  • My intuitive cooking sense with sauce reductions relies on the concept that, given a fixed amount of fluid, and a fixed heat source, the rate of evaporation increases when you spread the sauce across a larger pan.
• Another variation is to stick to the 2:1 water:oatmeal rule, but then, for 2 or more cups, add a little oatmeal, unless, of course, it's a big pot again.
• When you're real tired in the morning, this is the better way to approach it:
  • You figure how much you want to feed people -- use that much water. Oatmeal serving size is usually 1 cup of water per person.
  • You boil the water.
  • You add exactly half as much oatmeal.

Third: Cook with very low heat.

• I boil the water, add the oatmeal, and snatch the pot and swirl momentarily -- all the cooking oatmeal grains are underwater. Then, I turn down the heat as low as possible - this increases the cooking time by a few minutes, but makes wonderful oatmeal. This and the next suggestion keep the oatmeal from sticking and burning.

Fourth: Minimize mixing the cooking oatmeal!

• Rolled oats are a tender thing and they will break up easily. (If you like mushy oatmeal, skip this advice.)
• Keep the spoon out of the pot, as much as possible! I might briefly shake/snatch the pot after a couple of minutes, and when the free water reduces I might briefly check the pot bottom with the spoon, and mix the pot slightly, to keep the oatmeal from sticking to the bottom.

An Afterthought: Minimize salt!

• Oatmeal doesn't need much salt, if any. A small pinch of salt per serving, at the most.

That's it.

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