I've been making steel cut oats for breakfast for me and the girls since Elspeth was old enough for oats and dairy. My fail-proof method has always been to use a double-boiler, an idea I got from The Fanny Farmer Breakfast Book. However, that takes at least an hour, making it a necessity to plan ahead the night before.
When I got my Instant Pot, I knew I wanted to try steel cut oats in it. There is no shortage of recipes on the Internet, but they all call for using water and I like to cook my oats in milk. I had read that dairy under high pressure could be a bit of a no-no but I didn't understand why until I read an explanation noting that, not only does milk have a tendency to scorch easily, but the milk steam generated when releasing the pressure could be messy and horrible to clean up. So I put the idea aside for a while until I came across an Instant Pot rice pudding recipe using milk that used low, instead of high, pressure. This seemed like it could be the solution. The first time I tried it I cooked it for way too long, doubling the amount of time in the water-based recipes because I was using low pressure, not high. I also heated the milk first using the sauté function because I read another recipe where that was recommended. It was horrible, overcooked and unappetizing. But the milk didn't scorch... The second time I hit the jackpot. I cook at low pressure for 5 minutes and then let it rest at least ten minutes. If you use the keep warm setting you might get a little browning on the bottom of the pot, but the cereal didn't taste scorched at all and it came right off. To avoid this, I would guess that all you need to do is turn off the keep warm setting after the 5 minutes and then wait 10 minutes or more. It might not even take that long for the low pressure to drop naturally.
While I think the oats and milk integrate more silkily using the double-boiler method, the comparative speed of the Instant Pot method is compelling and I will definitely use the technique again (and again).
INGREDIENTS
1 c. steel cut oats
3 1/2 c. milk, any kind
1/2 tsp kosher salt
DIRECTIONS
When I got my Instant Pot, I knew I wanted to try steel cut oats in it. There is no shortage of recipes on the Internet, but they all call for using water and I like to cook my oats in milk. I had read that dairy under high pressure could be a bit of a no-no but I didn't understand why until I read an explanation noting that, not only does milk have a tendency to scorch easily, but the milk steam generated when releasing the pressure could be messy and horrible to clean up. So I put the idea aside for a while until I came across an Instant Pot rice pudding recipe using milk that used low, instead of high, pressure. This seemed like it could be the solution. The first time I tried it I cooked it for way too long, doubling the amount of time in the water-based recipes because I was using low pressure, not high. I also heated the milk first using the sauté function because I read another recipe where that was recommended. It was horrible, overcooked and unappetizing. But the milk didn't scorch... The second time I hit the jackpot. I cook at low pressure for 5 minutes and then let it rest at least ten minutes. If you use the keep warm setting you might get a little browning on the bottom of the pot, but the cereal didn't taste scorched at all and it came right off. To avoid this, I would guess that all you need to do is turn off the keep warm setting after the 5 minutes and then wait 10 minutes or more. It might not even take that long for the low pressure to drop naturally.
While I think the oats and milk integrate more silkily using the double-boiler method, the comparative speed of the Instant Pot method is compelling and I will definitely use the technique again (and again).
INGREDIENTS
1 c. steel cut oats
3 1/2 c. milk, any kind
1/2 tsp kosher salt
DIRECTIONS
- Place all ingredients in the insert of the Instant Pot
- Close the lid and make sure the valve is set to Sealing not Venting
- Select the Porridge setting, adjust the pressure to Low and adjust the time to 5 minutes
- Once the 5 minutes is up, turn off the Instant Pot if desired and wait until the pressure releases on its own
- Serve with mix-ins of your choice. We like dried fruit, coconut, slivered almonds and flaxseed
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