Steel-cut oats in the rice cooker.

[randomness]

Making steel-cut oats in the rice cooker is a little less fire-and-forget than steaming corn on the cob. I think it's because the cooker only has two settings: "cook" and "warm". "Cook" results in a merry rolling boil in the steam heater, while "warm" simply keeps the food warm.

"Cook" seems a little too high for steel-cut oats and in any case doesn't last very long, whereas "warm" seems like it would never cook the oats at all.

I ran the cooker through a couple of cycles in "cook" and feel the consistency of the oats is a little less smooth and creamy than I get from my overnight crock-pot recipe. The crock-pot recipe produces excellent results. And having to run the cooker repeatedly, adding water to the steam heater (not the oats) each time, is more attention-intensive than using the crock-pot, which really is a "set it up and leave it alone for six hours" kind of process.

Both the rice cooker method and the crock-pot method result in pots with some pretty seriously stuck-on oats.

More experimentation is required, I think.

Comments

[elements]

I had success with steel-cut oats in the rice cooker once. I think I used extra water, but can't really remember.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Thanks! That's similar to my crock-pot recipe, which is basically 4:1 water to oats in a crock-pot set on "warm". Return after 6 hours and serve.

I was hoping that the rice-cooker would allow me to produce steel-cut oats in less time with just as little attention, but it doesn't. :(

[vvalkyri.livejournal.com]

Microwave, my friend.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

I'd always heard that trying to microwave steel-cut oats doesn't work very well. Love to hear your experience, particularly if you have a working recipe!

[nezumiko.livejournal.com]

My rice cooker has a porridge setting for making congee. If I use that, I get perfect steel cit oatmeal every time. Also does barley and farro. If I forget and leave it on the rice setting, tragedy, boil over, and oat residue everywhere.

[vvalkyri.livejournal.com]

I just ue the one on the container - 1/4 cup oats, 3/4 cup liquid (i often have some of the liquid be almond milk) and nuke for 3 min, stir, nuke another 3. (offhand; isn't in front of me)

[uberjay.livejournal.com]

yeah, same here. the porridge setting always makes perfect oats for me, although in my case I'm using whole oats. (I use 30g oats/120g water per serving.)

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think the difference is that my cooker has two settings: "warm", which is a very low heat for keeping food warm, and "cook" which is probably the same as your "rice" setting.

At least I don't get boilover when I make oats on the rice setting! :)

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

No porridge setting on my cooker. Guess that's the problem!

Back to the crock-pot! (I use the same proportions as you do when I use the crock-pot, and it comes out great.)

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

I'll give that a try, although per this advice

Steel cut oats aren't ideal for the microwave, but it can be done. My first recommendation for making steel cut oatmeal in the microwave is to trust no one! No one except for me. I tried 4 different methods from various oat companies and every one resulted in oatmeal splattered all over the inside of my microwave. I mean, come one [sic], these were directions from people who make oats. Trust me, throwing all the ingredients in the microwave at the same time will result in a huge mess.

...

Use a microwave-safe bowl that's at least 5 times as big as the serving you're making

I'll use a really, really big bowl with a cover.

Also, I'll keep my blaster handy. (obscure game reference) :)

[vvalkyri.livejournal.com]

I have a very old anemic microwave, for which these directions work. I do use a fairly large bowl, but still more a large soup bowl rather than a mixing bowl.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Ah-ha.

You have quick-cook steel-cut oats. Those are cut smaller and cook differently (faster, mostly) from what I have, which are bulk steel-cut oats, but not the quick-cook kind. Good to know.

Still, worth experiementing.

Thanks for the photos!