Rice-cooker experiment.

[eyesroll]

Irish oatmeal.

We shall see whether I have a big goopy mess (or, even better, a big burnt-on pasty mess) or actual oatmeal shortly. (If it's the latter -- this will be lovely on a cold morning.)

I got a rice cooker as a gift this weekend. So far, it's made very good long-grain rice and decent purple rice (which is my own creation of 1/3rd black jasmine rice and 2/3rds Calrose).

It supposedly also steams and "makes soups and stews," but there are no instructions for that beyond veggie steaming times. We'll see.

[Stinky The Clown]

1. You left us hanging ....... how did the oatmeal turn out?

[eyesroll]

2. The oatmeal was good, but there was a bit of a mess.

Excess oatmeal water (sludge?) seeped out through the steam vent. It was easily cleaned, but inefficient.

I'll need to play with this a bit. Probably use less water than the oat box calls for.

[Dora]

3. My Advice: Give it up.

I tried this - too bad I didn't see your thread sooner!

Te results aren't worth the hassle, IMO. My steelcut oats turned into a gummy mess and the steam made a sticky froth that glommed nicely onto my lid.

If it's a cooking shortcut you're after, "some people say" you can soak the oats in a thermos of hot water overnight.

Did you see the porridge thread? :)

[eyesroll]

4. The oats themselves actually cooked up pretty well.

And I've done the soaking method, modified -- bring it to a boil, then cover (heavy pot), remove from heat and let it sit overnight. That worked OK, except there was still some active cooking time the next morning. (I'm looking for a quick-as-cold-cereal way to do this...it may be futile, I know, but I'll try again...)

[mike_c]

5. I now make a mess of oats-- a BIG pot full...

...and refrigerate or freeze it. It easily lasts a week in the 'fridge, so making oats on tight morning schedules is easy-- just pop some of the glop into a bowl, mix with a tbsp or two of water until fairly smooth, and microwave for 3 minutes or so. Instant oatmeal, and very good. I don't have time to cook oats most mornings, even with "shortcuts," but reheating pre-cooked oats works really well.

[wildeyed]

6. I read that you can do steel cut oats in a slow cooker overnight, too.

Saw it on Alton Brown's show.

[Stepup2]

10. I use a small crock pot

Works well for steel cut oats' I put oats in with a little extra water and leave it on overnight. I occasionally add a small amount of dried fruit.

[jmm]

12. I usually have fresh fruit lying around so I always add some

I prefer apples or persimmons.

[Dora]

11. Now I have a reason to get the small cooker.

I've always coveted one of those tiny "one person" crock pots, but I would have had no use for it. That's the perfect size for oatmeal.

Thanks for the tip!

[wildeyed]

7. I have done plain old old fashioned oatmeal in a rice cooker.

Nice when I have guests. they can serve themselves out of the cooker and I put out fixings so everyone can personalize their oats.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

8. Jook

In Korea, I learned how to fill the rice cooker with rice and broth, and just leave it on all the time, adding water as it seemed to cook away. People came and went, helping themselves to what other places call "congee."

I doubt that this would work with steel-cut oats, but it makes a great winter breakfast, albeit of a different grain.

Frankly, I've never had any luck with a rice cooker, and the method someone suggested above - cooking up a batch of oatmeal and then microwaving your portion in the morning - has always worked best for me.

Nowadays, I don't even use my rice cooker for rice. The steamer does a better job.

[hvn_nbr_2]

9. My rice cooker came with a small recipe book

Recipes for things I'd never have imagined doing in a rice cooker. I haven't tried many, but using it to cook chicken breasts worked great. Very tender and really, really juicy but still thoroughly cooked.

[eleny]

13. Just leave the rice in a pot with water overnight

Bring the water to a boil, turn off the heat and add the oatmeal. Next morning, you just cook it for a much shorter time. There's probably a recipe on the box. The steel cut oatmeal is really good. We just got some for the first time recently and I used that overnight instruction. It couldn't have been easier. Good luck!