Porridge these days….

I buy Flaverhans ( probably spelt wrong) organic oats I use whole organic milk and a carton of cream. I cook it in a Ban Marie over the lowest heat for over an hour. Everyone loves it.

Scott’s Old Fashioned oats are the best.

NotSpaghetti

I love porridge.
I tend to use Flahavan's organic oats - either porridge or jumbo.
I think they both smell like porridge.
The porridge variety won a taste awards I noticed the other day.

Same here

I have alway loved porridge and now use oat milk instead of water or dairy. It makes such a difference. Delish.

Traditional porridge is made from oatmeal, not rolled oats. Oatmeal has a stronger smell, very slightly darker colour. Cooking time is longer.

When I was young ( in Scotland ), porridge was always made with pinhead oatmeal, and sometimes with finer oatneal. I don’t eat porridge, but I need pinhead oatmeal to make skirlie, but recently, I haven’t been able to find any in the supermarkets. Amazing, considering the amount of types of oat cereals on the shelves. I ordered some from Amazon.

hamster58

Do you use a two-part saucepan? What my parents called 'a porringer'?

Water put in the base and ingredients put in the insert : one cup of porridge / one cup of milk / one cup of water /pinch of salt.

Prepared the night before to allow the oats to soak, and Dad would put it on to cook about 7:00am when he got up. A couple of stirs and ready for us to eat at about 8:00am before leaving for school.

Absolutely delicious and SO creamy.

I notice that there is quite a selection of porringers available on Amazon. It really is the best for a delicious porridge - and it can be used for many other things, including as a bain marie for great smooth sauces.
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What is skirlie grannybuy?

Greenfinch

What is skirlie grannybuy?

Skirlie is made from oats, suet and onions and is often served either as a side dish or as a stuffing. Tastes a bit like white pudding.

Thanks ,might give it a go ( if I can get the oats)Is it basically Scottish?

Oats, above most other foodstuffs slurp up chemicals used on some farms. If possible I try to buy organic. I actually like Sainsbury's own organic, but Flahavans are nice too, a bit coarser in texture if that's what you like

As a child our winter breakfast when we got one was porridge oats cooked in water, i now have a lifelong hatred of porridge, even the thought of it makes me heave.

Greenfinch

Thanks ,might give it a go ( if I can get the oats)Is it basically Scottish?

Yes, or at least I've never come across it anywhere else.

Barbadosbelle-no I don’t. I will definitely look it up. Last week when we had some in a hotel that smelled authentic, they said they just cooked it in a saucepan, but not sure if it was done to order, or had sat around etc. So many ideas and types of oats it seems. I had no idea!!

Coarse oatmeal is best. It needs to be soaked in water, preferably overnight, and then cooked in the microwave the following morning. Add a small amount of salt. Serve with a sprinkling of demerara sugar and a tablespoon of whiskey, if liked!

Proper porridge is not made with milk at all, but slow cooked in water with a pinch of salt. Top of the milk (so full cream) added to taste after serving

I still totally get the smell from yesteryear when I make porridge with Quaker Oats with water and and a knob of butter.

I like hotel porridge, it always tastes nicer than mine at home for some mysterious reason. I do have porridge every morning but I leave out the sugar as I value my teeth.
I remember as a a student working in a hotel doing the breakfast shift & once that was done we'd all sit down together to eat. A nice Russian chef there used to offer us a slug of vodka to liven-up the porridge. Lucky us.

Mum has Tesco smooth porridge with semi, to me it's bland. I have and love oat bran with 5g wheat bran and whole Milk.

Barbadosbelle thank you for mentioning porringers.
I was talking about my grandfather, (dutch born - lived in East London as an adult), who always made porridge with one of these - with salt - no sugar.

It was very much served as 'one lump or two' I hated it.

But when I was talking about this recently my adult children thought I had made up that word.

I always buy organic oats due to the chemicals/pesticides sprayed on UK Oat crops, one being Glyphosate - which is a key ingredient of Roundup and extremely toxic.
Then I use water and finish with whole milk, a dollop of real Greek Yoghurt, Blueberries and a drizzle of honey. Delicious.

My family always made porridge in a double boiler on the Aga.
It was a blue enamel one... (eventually badly chipped/damaged and relegated to melting wax for candles).

As far as I understood it, porringers are a sealed version of the double boiler but with a spout (and whistle?).

Could someone who uses them please post a photo?

I loved our old double boiler but (as my family grew) it couldn't make enough porridge for 7 of us anyway...

My family would eat porridge if I made it in a particular way-I'd add Coffee Mate and a little runny honey to the final serving .
It made it sweet and very creamy .
Of course ,it's not authentic !

Jane43

We use organic oats, a 1kg packet from Aldi is £2.25.

Me too. I also soak it overnight before it’s cooked. It’s much creamier done this way

I have porridge every morning, made with 1 cup of Marks and Spencer Organic oats, 1 cup of soy milk and 1 cup of water, I do this in the evening and leave it on the hob to switch on in the morning, it's delicious.