Why It Works
- Utilizing a rice cooker is a set-it-and-forget it resolution for getting ready steel-cut oats.
- In case your cooker has a timer operate, you possibly can set it up the night time earlier than and have oatmeal prepared for you if you get up within the morning.
I might like to eat a bowl of steel-cut oatmeal day by day, however most mornings I do not. Metal-cut oats are hardly a troublesome breakfast to whip up, however with youngsters to feed and dress and out the door and work conferences to affix shortly after that, I often do not have time. In fact, that assumes I am cooking them the traditional approach, on the stovetop.
So here is a useful tip that I just lately realized might fully change my morning meal, and it could change yours too: Use a rice cooker. There are two distinct benefits right here. The primary is {that a} rice cooker is totally hands-off. Simply put your oatmeal substances into the cooker pot, shut the machine, set it, and overlook it. When it is performed, all it’s a must to do is open the lid, give it a stir, and scoop it into bowls.
The second benefit is much more compelling: In case your rice cooker has a timer operate, you possibly can set it nicely upfront. Which means you possibly can load up the cooker earlier than going to mattress, program the machine to have it prepared for you at a specified time the following morning, and if you get up, there it’s in all its energy-supplying, fiber-packed, creamy, hearty magnificence. It is principally one of the best in a single day oats you can ever want for (with not a hint of that uncooked, soaked-oat sludge of typical in a single day oats).
In case you do not use the timer operate, remember that it could take some time for a rice cooker to cook dinner the oatmeal when you hit “begin”—wherever from about 40 minutes as much as greater than an hour, so not very best for those who’re in a rush (precisely how lengthy, although, will depend upon the model and mannequin you utilize). Not all rice cookers have timer capabilities, however most aside from probably the most rudimentary do. I like to recommend upgrading to a rice cooker with a timer operate if you do not have one; they do not must be that costly, and it is an ideal characteristic that you need to use for something out of your breakfast oatmeal to having cooked rice sizzling and contemporary for dinner as quickly as you get house from work. (See our opinions of the best rice cookers for buying recommendation.)
Severe Eats / Amanda Suarez
One element you’ll need to determine along with your machine at house is which setting to make use of for oatmeal. Many rice cookers right this moment have a porridge operate or one thing comparable for rice porridges like congee, however not all do. If yours does, it is best to use it. If yours would not, seek the advice of your proprietor’s handbook to search out out the easiest way to make oatmeal with the settings accessible to you. It is attainable some rice cookers will discourage making oatmeal in them, since oatmeal can foam up greater than rice; in case your cooker is not designed to make oatmeal, I might advise not attempting, except you are comfy with the danger of ruining your machine.
As for substances and ratios, I’ve discovered that three cups of water for each one cup of oats produces oatmeal with the sort of texture I like—thick however not stiff. If that ratio would not fit your tastes, you possibly can experiment to search out the ratio that does. Some could also be questioning about milk, and I’d simply advise some warning there. I would not wish to depart milk sitting out all night time if utilizing the timer operate, and you might also have a better danger of it scorching within the cooker pot since there isn’t any stirring concerned with a sealed rice cooker.
I might additionally advocate being cautious about batch sizes; this recipe makes a modest quantity to serve about 4 individuals. If you wish to make much more, it is best to verify to search out out what the utmost batch dimension is for oatmeal in your particular cooker since foaming, once more, is usually a concern, and much more so with a really full cooker with little headroom to comprise a foam surge.
So, to repeat: The rice cooker is an incredible instrument for making glorious oatmeal virtually fully hands-off and timed for precisely if you need it, however take note of your mannequin’s particular instructions to be sure to’re not doing something outdoors of what it was designed for.
The Sudden Technique for the Greatest Make-Forward Oatmeal
Prepare dinner Mode
(Hold display screen awake)
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1 cup (180g) steel-cut oats
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3 cups (710ml) water (see notes)
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Pinch kosher salt
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Toppings, as desired
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In a rice cooker, mix oats, water, and salt. Shut cooker and set to porridge mode (or probably the most acceptable mode in your cooker; seek the advice of producer’s instructions). If a timer operate is obtainable in your cooker, you need to use it to set if you need your oatmeal prepared (for instance, you possibly can fill the cooker the night time earlier than and specify that you really want it prepared at 7am; the cooker will activate early sufficient to make sure it is prepared if you get up). If not utilizing a timer operate, the cooking time will range with totally different rice cooker fashions, wherever from about 40 minutes as much as 1 hour half-hour.
Severe Eats / Amanda Suarez
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When prepared, open rice cooker and stir oatmeal to make sure an excellent consistency all through. Spoon into bowls and high as desired, then serve instantly.
Severe Eats / Amanda Suarez
Particular Tools
Rice cooker
Notes
The ratio of three cups of water for each 1 cup of steel-cut oats produces a thick however not stiff porridge, which I like. You might want to regulate the ratio of oats to water in case your preferences are totally different from mine, or in case your cooker produces barely totally different outcomes. As soon as you determine the proper ratio in your tastes and cooker, you may be good to go.
It could be tempting to make use of milk as an alternative of water; simply beware that it isn’t secure to depart milk sitting in a rice cooker at room temperature in a single day for those who’re planning to make use of the timer operate. Milk additionally runs a better danger of scorching because the sealed cooker heats, since you are not capable of stir.
Make Forward and Storage
Leftover cooked oatmeal could be saved in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 4 days or frozen for as much as 3 months. For finest outcomes, freeze and thaw in particular person parts and thaw in a single day within the fridge.
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