Porridge, with water or milk?

Porridge seems to be the breakfast "de jour" at the moment, and on the menus at all the snack bars/sandwich bars etc.

But the question I have is this:

Do you make it with milk or with water. That is, do you soak & cook your porridge oats with milk or water. We always used water, and only added milk at the last minute for flavour.

Porridge was soaked overnight with a pinch of salt & then cooked up in the morning with sugar and milk added to taste. Personally, I find porridge cooked soley in milk too heavy and hard to digest.

Does anybody else have an opinion on this "meaty" issue?

Thanks for starting this thread, it was on my todo list!!!

I've gone off the stuff lately, and would like to get back into it for all the good it does. I just got bored of it. In addition to the soak, water/milk debate, can anybody suggest ways of making it more appealing?

Thanks

S.

hows it goin,
only got into this porridge stuff last month and soak 1 cup of oats with 1 1/2 cups of water throughout the night and in the morning i heat the hob to the maximum and when i put the pot down on cooker turn it completely down to number 2 on the dial so the porridge wont stick to the bottom stirring continously and when it starts to thicken up add the milk (not too much) at this stage its gone a bit thin inside the pot thicken again until consistancy is to you're liking pour into bowl and add sugar to taste alternatively you could use honey or raisins believe me im a mountainrunner and marathon runner and i find it fills me up for much of the day and gives me all the energy that i need and that includes lead in me pencil now theres a useless bit of info for you my regards to you all now you can all go and boil you're heads if you can find a pot big enough all the best Seánie

Ah, don't be so harsh, ClubMan — surely this is no worse than what's in the What/What Not to Buy at Lidl/Aldi thread? (145 posts at last count...)

With five growing snappers, I have perforce become something of a porridge connoisseur over the years, and it is a Very Important Question in terms of both health benefits and financial savings (a year's supply of shop-bought Nestlé Krappi-bites ® for my lot would cost more than my home and car insurance combined).

The Moriarty method is blissfully simple:

(1) Forget about pots and stirring — the microwave is yer only man.
(2) The 'mix' (to feed 5-6):
— 1 heaped mug oatflakes (with an extra dollop for luck)
— 1.5 mugs milk (preferably full cream)
— 1.5 mugs water
— 3 level dessertspoons brown sugar (or honey is a nice alternative)
— Pinch of salt
(3) Stir. Stand bowl in fridge overnight.
(4) Stick bowl in microwave for 10-15 mins, depending on wattage. Go back to bed until it's ready...
(5) Slop it into the bowls and pour on a drop of extra milk/yoghurt/teaspoon of jam/fruit purée, depending on taste.

You know it makes sense...


[Edit: (@ClubMan/SteelBlue05) The calming effects of porridge are widely attested in independent trials... ]

Hi folks

I am closing this thread at least temporarily.

I, for one, am not happy with the deterioration in posts on Askaboutmoney - how do you eat porridge. Does anyone know the opening hours of Dixons. How do you eat your Creme Egg.

There are loads of other sites for this type of stuff.

Brendan

"Stick bowl in microwave for 10-15 mins, depending on wattage. Go back to bed until it's ready..."

Hi Doc,

Seeing as you seem to be the authority especially on the microwave type does it matter if its not one of the better known brands/dearer option or are they all much of a muchness? IMHO there is certainly a difference in the cheaper kids cereals?

BTW after you have cooked it for 15 mins do you leave it stand for the equivalent amount of time as the microwave cookery book says? In your case that would be 30 mins!!!!!!!!! You could have washed all 5 in that time

On my recent trial runs, cook for 1 min, stir and then another 1 is sufficient for one person portion.

It's popularity is increasing - the world's first Porridge Bar has just opened in Edinburgh! It was also worthy of a mention on Sky News last week.

Hi suellen,

Every now and then Mrs Moriarty, in a fit of bucolic nostalgia, goes out and pays €10/kilo for one of those Kelkin Organics/Mother Earth Free-Range types that can be traced back to the original, non-GM wheat fields (tended by old-style Farmer Fred who knows every blade by name...), etc. The kids usually turn up their noses at it and demand the 'ordinary' stuff!

[broken link removed] (The Lidl stuff in green paper bags is quite nice too, although I agree that their 'Little Man' processed cereals are foul...)

As for the microwave — no, I usually just give it a good long stir, adding extra milk to cool it down and stop it 'setting' too quickly in the bowls. But I reckon any porridge needs to be eaten while it's freshly-made. And of course cooking times depend on the amount of mixture and wattage of the microwave — as you say, a pre-soaked single portion should only take a couple of minutes.

And as for how to wash five kids in a hurry — have you tried searching for 'power hose' over on Homes and Gardens?

" And as for how to wash five kids in a hurry — have you tried searching for 'power hose' over on Homes and Gardens?"

It has to be said and noted on paper that this man is mad!