I’ve tried over and over again to cook it in slow cookers to have it ready for the morning, but have never been satisfied with the results. I’ve tried various sizes of slow cookers, and various temperatures. On the plus side,the oatmeal is nice and hot when you wake up. But, cooked in a slow cooker, the oatmeal is really overdone on the outsides and pretty soft in the center. Mixed together, it is actually OK, but there is always that ‘crust’ of not-so-appetizing baked oatmeal and later the task of soaking and cleaning the crock – no fun. I’ve tried spraying the crock or rubbing it with butter before cooking the oats, and I’ve used a timer to keep the cooking time to a minimum, but nothing has prevented the crusty clean-up problem. The only idea that might seem to work would be to use the crock pot as a water bath for a container of oatmeal…but I haven’t been able to figure out what container would work in one of my crock pots…and besides, it then becomes such an ordeal, that it’s no easier than cooking oatmeal on the stove. The same goes for cooking it in the pressure cooker – fast, yes, but the logistics of setting up the pot in the water bath….kind-of a headache.

So, I tried the thermos suggestion – sounded easy! But, though I pre’heated’ the thermos with boiling water for 15 minutes, and used boiling water to mix up the oatmeal I placed in the thermos, my oats were only slightly cooked and were still too watery and unappetizing the next morning. Then, after reading about the ‘precook’ method – I decided to combine it with the thermos method. While I cleaned up the kitchen after dinner, I prepped my thermos w/ boiling water while I boiled my oats for 5-10 minutes. Clean up of the cooking pot was easy – nothing cooked long enough to make a mess. I dumped the prep water out of the thermos and put the ‘parboiled’ oats and water in. Next morning? PERFEÇT!!! Still slightly warm (truthfully, it needed a few secs in the microwave – but I did make it early in the evening and our house is pretty cold right now – temps outside are very low and inside are rarely over 65), my oatmeal was still ‘just right’ nutty and chewy but, at the same time, creamy. I used a lunch thermos that holds a bit over 2 cups, so my husband enjoyed some, too. Now, this method isn’t much different from the one which involves leaving it on the stove overnight to finish cooking in the morning, but in the event that you just want to completely avoid cooking or pot washing in the morning, then this method might work for you.

Next time? I’m going to try sauteing my oats in butter before adding water, then following the same procedure – cook for a few minutes, then quickly put it in a thermos until morning. Sauteing the grains before adding water is a method that I’ve used forever for making brown rice, and I know what a difference it can make. I’m sure it’ll improve our oatmeal….which just goes to show that the more I keep reading about different ways to cook oatmeal…the more great ideas I learn!

Good luck to all the rest of you and thanks for all the great ideas!