Intermittent Oatmeal

[mific]

I have this low-effort way of making oatmeal, developed as I got fed up with burning it in saucepans on the stove, or having to stand over it stirring, and then all the tedious clean-up of the pot.

In a medium-to-large microwave-safe bowl (mine's about 8" across):
1/2 cup rolled oats (ordinary rolled oats/oatmeal - if you use steel cut oats you need to cook it almost twice as long or remember to soak it overnight first)
3 heaped tsps skim milk powder
1/3 tsp salt
1.5 cups cold water

Stir well until the milk powder is dissolved. (Stir it throughout this process with a spatula as that's what you'll eventually use to dish it up and it saves washing a spoon.) Then microwave for 3 min (my microwave is cheap and not very powerful so I always use it on full). Wander off and do something else. It's good if you forget the oatmeal for at least 30 min. It's now half cooked and soaked. Stir well, then microwave again for 2 min. (Longer cooking periods make it boil and splatter all over your microwave, and you don't want that!) Probably forget it again. When you remember it again, if it's cooled, can do another 2 min blast. If it's still hot, just 1 min at a time between stirrings. Repeat this a few times until it's as cooked as you like it. Use the spatula to get it into a serving bowl if you're feeling posh, or if not, eat it from the microwave bowl. Serve it how you like it - I like mine with cream and muscovado sugar - this also doubles as a dessert. :) Put the microwave bowl and spatula in the sink and fill with water. Wander off and do something else. They'll just need a quick rinse when you remember later.
 

Comments

[fred_mouse]

We used to do this as well. Ours is a high power microwave (I think 1000W, but it could be higher) so I would caution people trying it to start with 1 minute bursts.

It also works just fine with only quick oats and water, and if you do it that way you can get away with about three sets of cooking / stir and then done, which is great when you need hot filling food fast.

I don't tolerate oats (which was a frustrating thing to discover), and I've tried this with a number of other rolled grains. Quinoa works, but smells dreadful to me, so I stopped, but from memory it was the same amount of time. Rolled rice never seemed to lose the crunchy, but maybe that was me rushing.

[j00j]

Definitely start with 1 minute and increase/watch it. Maybe also keep an eye on it if you're using a different kind of bowl than usual. The timings that work in my bowls and microwave exploded oatmeal all over the place in my parents' bowls and microwave.

But yes, my method is very similar; I don't bother with oatmeal on the stove if it's just me.


Another option is to make overnight oats the night before in a microwavable container and then the cooking time is shorter. Texture is different though, your mileage may vary.

[mific]

Yes, all good points, and definitely when first trying it only use medium power and 1 min bursts, plus a loose lid on the bowl, to prevent oatmeal explosions!

[fred_mouse]

I used to do mine without a lid!

We have quite deep bowls, which were used for porridge, for soup, and for stew, and they worked really well for 1/4 cup of quick oats and 1/2 cup water, but any more than that they would overflow.