Help with steel cut oats
 

I've bought some steel cut oats, but I'm not too sure about how I should cook them. Can anyone give me some advice on the best way to prepare them - what quantities I should use, etc.

Thanks :)

They take a long time to cook, so this is a good method that's easy and foolproof.

• Fill a wide mouthed thermos with very hot tap water. Let it sit, covered.
• Place 1/4 cup oats and 1 cup of water in a pot. Add a pinch of salt and bring to boil.
• Empty the water out of the thermos and pour the contents of the pot into it. Cover tightly and let sit overnight.

And in the morning you will have perfectly cooked oats. :)

Karen

Hi Demi!

I have a Grain Cooking Chart from a de-tox cleanse I did and it has all the quantities and cooking times for a variety of grains.

For 1 cup of Steel-cut Oats, it says to use 2 cups of water and cook for 10 minutes. It doesn't say exactly how to cook it, but probably the same way as slow cooking oats.

I thought I'd seen another method somewhere, still cooking it on the stovetop. I'm going to try to find it and if I do, I'll post it for you.

Lily

Not what I was looking for, but I just found this (McCann's Website http://www.mccanns.ie/pages/preparation.html)
Quick Soak Method
One of the quickest and easiest ways to prepare McCann's Steel Cut Oats is to soak the oats overnight. Before going to bed, boil four cups of water in a pot, add one cup of oatmeal, stir and turn off the heat. Cover the pot and leave overnight. The next morning, bring oats to a brisk boil and cook until they are just tender and serve.

Microwave
Mix 1/2 cup of steel cut oats with 2 cups of water in an 8 cup bowl (the size of the bowl is important as it must be large enough to allow the oats to bubble up without spilling over). Seal the bowl with plastic wrap and run at full power for 5 minutes. Stir and finish cooking for another 5 minutes (since microwaves vary in size and power, cooking times may need to be adjusted for different models).

Cut Corners
Place the oats, natural or pre-toasted in a food processor. A few turns of the metal blade will break up the grains and reduce the cooking time by at least 5 minutes.

Be Prepared
One trick is to prepare five days worth of oatmeal in advance. This can be stored in an airtight container in your refrigerator and used as required. To reheat, use a microwave - heat on high for 2-3 minutes and then enjoy!

Pre-Toast
Place the steel-cut oats in a preheated 300 degree oven for approximately 20 minutes. Return the oats to a tightly covered container, storing in a cool place. Toasted oats cook in half the time.

Cook under Pressure!
When the pressure is on for a quick bowl of oatmeal - Rely on your pressure cooker. In approximately 5 minutes, pre-toasted steel-cuts will be cooked to perfection. All you need is 1 cup of pre-toasted steel-cuts, 3 1/2 cups of water and 1 tablespoon unsalted butter. Be sure to allow the pressure to release slowly according to the manufacturer's directions.

Karen and Lily ~ many thanks :)

Alton Brown on TVFood Network's show, Good Eats, did an episode on Oats. I found it interesting, tho I'm in the dark on how appropriate oatmeal is. Seems it should be good, but I can't really tell from the food label. Anyway, there's a link to the show here:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/sho...6_19890,00.html

One of his suggestions was to use a crock pot and cook overnight.

Yep I love steel cut oats and I cook mine in a crockpot overnight also. I take 3c. oats and 6c. water and put it in the crockpot. Turn it on low and leave it overnight. In the morning it's ready and I package up the remainder in 1c. portions and keep it in the fridge and I have enough for all week. I just nuke it a few minutes to heat it up :)