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I am looking for a way to prepare fast steel-cut oats.
I do not have a microwave, and I would like to have them for breakfast but I can not cook for ~40 mins to prepare them in the morning.
I have tried to cook them by simmering them ~10 mins till the water is gone but they did not taste good (were actually uncooked).
I have also tried leaving them overnight in a bowl of milk but they were not easy to eat either (was like chewing gum)
Note1: yes I know about instant oats etc but these are less nutritious than steel-cut oats so I am looking for a way to prepare them fast.

Note2: I don't care if the fast method suggested is for a warm or cold recipe. Either warm or cold are fine by me.

Debbie M.
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Jim
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4 Answers4

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My low-effort steel cut is to set the bowl of steel-cut and water in a steamer and let it go about 20 minutes (or longer) - unlike (my experience of) cooking them in a pot, there's no stirring, boilovers, or other drama. IME the drama fully applies in the microwave and no time is saved by it. But you are not going to cook them in 10 minutes time (2 minutes active work, yes, 10 minutes time, no.) On the other hand, I don't see why you'd be cooking for 40 minutes in any case.

Edit: I begin to suspect from the comments that @Jim is not familiar with the concept of steaming. So, steaming, the short explanation: A small amount of water in a large enough pot. A rack set on the bottom of the pot to elevate the bowl. A bowl contianing food (in this case, steel cut oats and water in a ratio of 1:2) is set on the rack above the water. The lid is put on the pot, the water is boiled, the steam in the pot cooks the food.

Other method I haven't used in years but which worked then and should work now, is to put the oats and boiling water into a wide-mouthed thermos flask the night before. Given that the main reason I haven't done it in years was that I dropped and broke the glass on my wide mouth thermos flask, I would suggest a stainless-steel version rather than a glass version (my stainless steel narrow-mouthed flask is old and dented and still going strong, more than 3 decades after it was new. But I wouldn't want to put anything other than a liquid in it due to the size of the mouth.)

Ecnerwal
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I usually leave mine overnight. Bring the water to a boil, throw the oats in, stir, cover, and remove from heat. In the morning they just need a quick reheat.

miken32
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One way to prepare oats which allows them to be stored and eaten cold and which avoids excessive chewiness is to make flapjack. I sometimes do this at the weekend to eat it as breakfast over the course of the week. In the absolute minimal form you just need butter and oats (I've tried roasting oats by themselves, but it's too easy to burn them). Without any sugar to bind them the result is very crumbly but perfectly edible. You can add sugar, fruit, etc. before baking or search for more elaborate recipes as desired. If you care about the calcium from the dairy then you can eat them with yoghurt.

Peter Taylor
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Try soaking the oats in cold water overnight- they will absorb some of the water, but faster, according to "The Joy of Cooking"

michael
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