Porridge, great scoff, but how do you cook yours?

[peter236uk]

You guys dont like brown sugar in your porridge it's great not to much just enough almost the same as a banana or dried fruit in sugar content so no different

[caer urfa]

Many years ago I was quite traditional in the porridge department, steeping the oats overnight with regular milk and water – added salt to taste. Always just Quaker or Scott's or supermarket own brand (tried jumbo oats - but it's a different taste, not to my palate)

Then went through the microwave phase, again prepared the night before in a microwavable bowl with lid – a quick blast next morning in the microwave produced a wholesome breakfast.

Dabbled with a sprinkling of bran for a while, but weaned off that as it was much too powerful, for my constitution anyway. I think it was at this time when semi-skimmed came to be used and lemon juice in lieu of salt (better for the old ticker?). Also started to add dried fruit after seeing it as an option in a magazine one time.

Had a bad does of flu one year and the after affects including bunged up sinus etc which seemed to be made much much worse when drinking or eating diary products. Went over to soya milk about this time – probably over 10 years ago now. Also, started adding about a teaspoon worth of honey.

Regime more or less the same now, only berries (rasps and/or blueberries) are now added in lieu of the dried fruit – all highly recommended and sets you up for the morning.

Enjoyed porridge most mornings last year when camping for a week and a half last September in Malvern

[largeallan]

Just water and salt, that's how god intended it to be!

[Achilles]

One more vote for the touring version. I use a 'pour and store' bag.

All I put in is oatmeal and raisins. Boil water, add to packet ( twice as much water as oats by volume) , seal, wrap in fleece or similar ( keep upright if possible, I have had one leak!) and wait 4 - 5 mins. Remainder of water makes a brew. Minimum fuel used and no washing up!

Packet becomes rubish sack or if you are keen they can be washed.

[georgew]

No-one tried Maple syrup then? I use this with a tea spoon of cinnamon and semi-skimmed milk. At the moment I'm using Alford stone-ground oats and it seems more creamy than the usual stuff. The "Scotts/Quaker" factory is just along the road but knowing that it's owned by Pepsi makes me want to look around.

[beachcomber]

Scotts thick milled oats. About a cupfull, I don't measure it. Add about cup and a half of water. micrwave for 2 mins. Stirr, add some skimmed milk and a big handful of Morrisons jumbo sultanas and raisins. Microwave for 2 more mins. Sometimes add honey for it's health giving properties.

Very occasionally I add sunflower seeds, pine nuts and the like. Just for a bit of variety.

I used to be able to eat salt on porridge until my friend who salts his food very heavily gave me a bowl on a morning I had a massive hangover. The slightest taste of salted porridge makes me gip now.

[ChrisButch]

To cook porage properly you need a porage spurtle. Without this, you end up with mere porridge.

[iviehoff]

When I was on a long, long tour, riding the bicycle most days for months, I fairly soon started to find that my morning fuelling of porage was leaving me running on empty by about mid-morning. The problem was that when cooked and inflated with water, the oats became too bulky for me to get enough calories down my neck without feeling sick. One solution might have been elevenses, but available and palatable forms of elevenses (which were quite locally variable) didn't really have the long-term fuelling process I sought. Also not all places I was riding through had convenient sources of suitable elevenses material. So I started devising lower volume forms porage that I could eat more of. My favourite was cold overnight soaked with added dried fruit (or fresh fruit if available) with milk (or yogurt if available) in the morning.

I did eat pinhead oatmeal as breakfast cereal when once finding ourselves is a sufficiently remote part of Scotland (Kinlochbervie) that this was the only form of oats locally available. We decided that they needed overnight soaking, and we preferred rolled oats. Pinhead oatmeal is better used for coating herring before frying.

When I did a long interior crossing of Iceland, such that we had to carry nearly 2 weeks of food, we were reduced to porage for 2 meals a day in the later stages of the ride. Wasn't there some mountaineer who provisioned his expeditions as comprising mainly so many pounds of oats per person per day?

[georgew]

The Quaker/Scotts people make a type of oats which is sold exclusively to Scandinavia. This is finely rolled and requires no cooking or soaking before eating. I think it's called "Solgryn" and I do wish they sold it here as it's perfect for cyclists.

[iviehoff]

The Quaker/Scotts people make a type of oats which is sold exclusively to Scandinavia. This is finely rolled and requires no cooking or soaking before eating. I think it's called "Solvin" and I do wish they sold it here as it's perfect for cyclists.

Solgryn, often written as two words Sol Gryn. When I was in Iceland, I was unable to discover the difference between the differently coloured packets, despite asking a few people for translations. You wouldn't guess what was in the packets just from looking at them, I'd had to ask to find them at all. I was a bit worried I might be buying some reddy-brek kind of stuff. See http://www.quakerscandinavia.com/dk/pro ... lgryn.html

My 4-yr-old daughter likes her muesli dry, straight out of the packet, no liquid added. So what one person deems palatable without soaking, etc, is different for another.

[Vorpal]

No-one tried Maple syrup then?

My favourite porridge topping is maple syrup (preferably poured over a generous dab of butter). yum!

Maple syrup got some mentions on this viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5926&hilit=porridge similar thread...

[CREPELLO]

When camping mine is more muesli than porridge, but what I do is soak porridge oats overnight,in water with some added dried fruit, seeds, nuts, stored in one of those new design air tight boxes (the ones with the buttons you press to make the waterproof seal).
I may add fresh summer fruit I've picked up on the way.

The thing is that oats treated in this way produce a very creamy rich consistency, without milk. So basically, when I'm summer touring, I'm not cooking nor using milk at all, which makes for a much lighter kit.

[Mattie]

Cold with Rice Krispies, sugar and milk. Make sure the bowl is quite high or else the Krispies will overflow onto the table. Haven't had this for a while and is something I used to be very fond of !

[CREPELLO]

Not all porridge oats are the same.

I tried out some expensive oats once - an ancient variety apparently grown in neolithic times (or something like that). They were actually the creamiest oats I've tasted (water, no milk). But at £3 for 500g , I won't be buying them again.

Regular Sainsburys oats aren't rolled that well, so don't make creamy porridge.

My local Pimhill oats are the best . They're well rolled, organic and only 50p for 500g, when I buy a 25kg sack. They also grow the organic oats for Mornflake.

[Keith1960]

One small mug of oats, one small mug of skimmed milk plus one small mug of water. Heat in pan for a few minutes (until bubbling like volcanic lava!) serve and mix in one desert spoon of "hard" honey.

Eat half (other half, but no honey, goes to my chickens - they love it!)