Pressure cooking oatmeal is convenient and hands-off. The pressure will squeeze the creaminess right out of the cereal making a cozy and nutritious breakfast. Here’s my technique for the perfect bowl of pressure cooked oatmeal.
This is one of those pressure cooker techniques that does not take less time but is still more convenient for other reasons. While microwaving oatmeal is quick, the gruel-like texture is not that appetizing – unless you want to open the microwave and stir every 30 seconds. Making oatmeal from scratch requires you to stand there and constantly stir the porridge until it’s ready and creamy. If you’re not careful the oatmeal might burn, splatter or boil over.
Cooking oatmeal in the pressure cooker is totally hands-off – no burning, no boil-overs and no stirring to worry about.
But wait, there’s more!
If you have an electric pressure cooker with a timer or delay function – you can set everything up the night before so breakfast can pressure cook itself in the morning!
Safely Pressure Cooking Oatmeal
I do not recommend pressure cooking oatmeal directly in the pressure cooker’s base for both safety and convenience reasons.
All pressure cooker manuals advise against pressure cooking oatmeal, and that’s because cooking oatmeal directly in the base will cause the oatmeal to foam, splatter and clog the pressure release valves, which is a safety concern. Using a bowl cooks the oatmeal more delicately, in that it ensures that pressure builds in the cooker before the oatmeal itself is boiling. This reduces foam and splatters because pressurized steam will actually be pushing down on the oatmeal preventing it from actively boiling (making bubbles that ultimately generate splatters and foam).
Another issue is that the amount of oatmeal you can pressure cook directly in the pressure cooker is dictated by your cooker’s minimum liquid requirement- making it impossible to make oatmeal for just 1. And even then, the only liquid you can use for the oatmeal is water because milk will scorch and burn -you can use whatever, and however much, liquid you with the oatmeal-in-the-bowl method – as long as the contents of the bowl(s) do not go over the 1/2 full mark, of course. ; )
Basic Pressure Cooker Oatmeal Preparation
- Prepare the pressure cooker with 2 cups (500ml) water in the base.
- Add the steamer basket, or rack.
- Prepare a small heat-proof container, like cereal bowl or mug, with the correct ratio of oatmeal to liquid (see table, below).
- If your bowl, or steamer basket, does not have handles make a small aluminum foil sling to easily lower and lift the bowl into the pressure cooker.
- Do not cover the bowl with foil. Cook it uncovered.
- Pressure cook at high pressure according to oatmeal type (see table, below) – the cooking time is the same if you’re pressure cooking one bowl or six mugs.
- Open the pressure cooker with Natural Pressure Release which can take anywhere from 7 to 15 minutes – seriously, don’t mess around. Wait for it .
Oatmeal Pressure Cooking Times & Liquid Ratios
[table id=25 datatables_fixedheader=top/]
NOTE:Oats are a plant product and there will be variances in the age, drying, toasting and processing between brands. These above cooking times and ratios will work for most oatmeal brands. Should you experience unsatisfactory results, follow the ratio as given on the package of your oats, and use the same conventional cooking time at pressure.
Two Kinds of Steel-Cut Oats
When this guide first launched a number of cooks were getting unsatisfactory results with steel-cut oats. That’s because I had inadvertently only tested the time for the “quick-cooking” steel-cut oats which have a conventional cooking time of five minutes and not the plain steel-cut oats which usually take 30 minutes. As you can see from the picture above, the difference between the grains is how finely they were “cut.” I finally got my hands on both kinds and have updated the cooking times accordingly.
Pressure Cooker Oatmeal Tips
- Replace the liquid to hydrate the oatmeal with: milk, soy milk, rice milk, 50% coconut milk 50% water, fruit juice, bone broth or water.
- Add a small pinch of salt to accentuate the flavor (don’t worry, it won’t taste “salty”).
- Add a drop of butter or oil to encourage the oatmeal to release the fat-soluble vitamins (like Vitamin E)1 – this is optional.
- If your electric pressure cooker has a delay or timer function, you can set-up the pressure cooker the evening before to start pressure cooking your breakfast before you wake up. Program the cooker to start cooking your oatmeal about 30 minutes before breakfast. Make a test bowl first, to make sure that the ratios and cooking times work for your particular brand of oatmeal.
- Add any sweeteners after pressure cooking – to use less and taste more of them.
Pressure Cooker Oatmeal Recipes
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Please leave comment to share your favorite oatmeal recipes and photos!
Reference
1. Tremblay, Sylvie, MSc. “What Are the Vitamin Components of Oatmeal?” Healthy Eating. SFGATE. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.
Thanks to K0an from twitter, for catching some mis-edits in an earlier version of this article!
Ciao,
L
I tired this using my 6 liter PC with two cups water, steamer basket, 1 liter heat safe bowl, 2/3 cup Anita’s Steal Cut Oats, dab of butter, and stove top pressure cooker set for 3 minutes at pressure with natural release. When the time was up, it was really watery and not well cooked. I repressured and let it go for an additional 6 minutes under pressure, with natural release. It still was watery, so I placed the bowl in the microwave and gave it two minutes high. It boiled over a bit, and was still not cooked. I transferred it to a SS pot and cooked another 10 minutes low. It was chewy, and still pretty liquid. I let sit a further ten minutes and while edible, the who thing came to take me about 30 minutes, and I used two pots, a microwaveable bowl, soaked two hot pads with spilled water from the microwave, and used two dishcloths. I am at sea level so have trouble understanding why this went so wrong. The PC is a 6 l, made by TFAL Clipso
JK, what kind of cooktop are you using with your stovetop pressure cooker? What material was this bowl? I’m sorry you had such a hard time with your oatmeal – it shouldn’t be so difficult! I’ve made it several times in my Kuhn Rikon stovetop without problems.
Let’s figure out what happened. : )
Ciao,
L
Laura, it was a DCS four burner 30 inch gas cooktop. The bowl was a microwaveable, oven proof, ceramic glazed bowl approx 6 inch at the mouth and maybe about 1 litre capacity.
jk, as I mentioned to Randal I think there must be a variance with your brand of oatmeal. Increase the timing to 15 minutes for your rolled oats – or until you find a timing that works for your particular brand of rolled oats.
Ciao,
L
I just had the same watery results as jk using John McCann’s Steel Cut Oatmeal. I was using my Instant Pot. My first pressure cooker failure!
I’ll recook it with the 12 minutes you mentioned and give it a shot.
Stephan, I have added the following note to the article, under the timing chart…
I hope this will be helpful.
Ciao,
L
Okay, I’ll give that a shot!
Well…not sure what to say, but this still fails for me, even when I use the recommended ratio/cooking time from the package.
Again, I’m using John McCann’s Steel Cut Oatmeal, which seems to be the usual brand around my parts. The can calls for a 4:1 water to oats ratio, cooked on the stove for 30 minutes. I put 1/4 cup of oats and 1 cup of water in a glass bowl, put it on the trivet in my Instant Pot, poured 2 cups of water in the bottom of my pot. I set it for 30 minutes. I let the pressure drop naturally (about 20 minutes.) So, all together, it was in the pot for about an hour.
It came out edible but still chewy. Not terrible, but not great.
Last might I tried the slow cooker method, and that worked a LOT better, came out very nice and creamy. But, a lot more mess to clean up.
So, still disappointed over here :(
Well, I agree that it’s disappointing! You used the steam function with the valve on the lid closed?
Ciao,
L
I used the manual function with the valve closed, yes. Should I have seleected the Instant Pot’s steam function instead?
Either setting could have worked in this case. I’m really perplexed about why this isn’t working for you. 30 minutes is enough for Oat Groats!
Ciao,
L
I should try making some using oat groats. I’m currently using quick oats simply because I make mine very thick and the quick oats cook fully. I also make a very large batch and then divide it into 1/2 cup containers and freeze them. I then mix it with my wheat bran mush I make every morning. My measures are 400 grams quick oats and 1400 grams liquid. For the liquid I crank up the richness by using 2 cans of evaporated milk and 1 can of Thai coconut milk (which has lots of coconut fat in it) and then enough water to bring it up to 1400 grams. Also bain marie, but on low, for 18 minutes. I probably need the longer time since I don’t use as much liquid. And after it’s cooked I use an electric hand mixer to mix it and make it smooth.
Wow, that sounds like a delicious mix. I tested a pina colada-inspired oatmeal (sans liquor ; ) with dried coconut flakes and dried pineapple but the coconut flakes were throwing off the oatmeal liquid ratio so I decided to drop that. I bet coconut milk would partially resolve that.
I had an oat groat recipe in the hopper to include with this special but decided that the newsletter was never going to get out by this weekend if I worked on that, too! Maybe I’ll publish it when the weather starts to cool down again this fall.
Ciao,
L
Thanks for all this, is def gonna change how I do my morning oatmeal!
The Instant Pot makes the best oats ever, Pot in Pot method. It helps if you can find outstanding oats. We buy ours from Logan Turnpike Mill in Blairsville Georgia,(https://www.loganturnpikemill.com/ …can order online–their grits are good too!)
and use Fat Daddio’s Anodized Aluminum Round Cake Pan, 6-Inch x 4-Inch that I bought on Amazon. The straight sides of the pan seem to help cook the oats more evenly than rounded bowls that I’ve tried. I usually always make a cup of dried oats at a time and if there’s any left my husband will eat them the next morning.
-Great with a dollop of good full fat Greek Yogurt or a splash of buttermilk!
It really only takes 3 mins for steel-cut oats vs 10 minutes for rolled oats??
Also, if you wanted to make one big batch, would the times change at all?
Yes. It really takes longer to make rolled oats. No, the timing does not change with larger quantities.
Ciao,
L
Wouldn’t the steel cut oats take longer to cook than the rolled oats?
Try it. : )
Ciao,
L
Ok. Thankyou
I wrote a comment, and it appears that you as moderator decided not to post it? My experience was that your timing did not work. Does not my experience deserve to be heard so that people can see it? It may not work to use 3 minutes for steel cut oats as you describe for some people. Respectfully, I did not appreciate your ignoring my post if that was indeed what occurred.
Comments from new subscribers are moderated, please be patient as this can take up to a day.
Please see my answer, below.
Ciao,
L
Sorry about that, I was having a bad day. I should not have responded like that. Please feel free to delete that comment.
In my Instant Pot I use a stainless steel bowl as you recommend. In the bowl I start with a heaping Tablespoon of ground cinnamon followed by a 1/2 tsp of salt. Then I add 1 cup of dried cranberries, 1 cup of raisins, 1 cup of steel-cut oats, and finally, 4 cups of water. I then pressure cook on high for 3 minutes followed by natural release. I then refrigerate at least overnight. I then take a quarter (one serving) and add flaked coconut (1-2 Tbls), 4 ounce cup of pineapple in monk fruit juice and mash it all together. I then microwave for 3 minutes and breakfast is ready! Tastes great, lots of fruit, creamy and very easy.
PAG, thanks for sharing your oatmeal recipe!
Ciao,
L
I cook steel-cut oatmeal in my Instant Pot a couple of times a week. I’ve never done the bowl in bowl method and I’ve have never had a problem with sticking or excessive foaming.
Maybe it’s because I always start by sauteeing the dry oats in a small amount of either ghee or coconut oil, stirring frequently. When it begins to smell nice and hot and toasty, I add the liquid (same 1:3 ratio you use) and start the pressure cooking process.
I’m going to try the maple steel cut oats recipe on this site. I like to top my oatmeal with maple syrup but having the flavor permeated all through the oats sounds really good.
Your chart looks like the times for rolled oats and steel cut oats are reversed. Steel cut should be 10 minutes and rolled oats 3 minutes.
No, the timing is correct. I have tested these timings personally, each morning, for several years. : )
Ciao,
L
Oh dear, last night I used your instructions for steel cut oatmeal (3 minutes), and after waiting for the pressure to release naturally my bowl was still like soup. Not at all cooked. I will try 10 minutes next time.
Hi Trisha, when you first look at the bowl it will look like the liquid is too much. When you stir it vigorously the starch will come out and it will thicken-up.
If you did that and it was still under-cooked, please tell us what pressure cooker type, model and size you have and, if stovetop, what cooktop you used it on. Also, if you’re located above sea-level, you probably already know that you need to adjust the cooking times – but if you are and you don’t tell us what your altitude is so we can tell you how to do it.
Let’s trouble-shoot to see what happened and get you perfect oatmeal!
Ciao,
L
HI Laura, my pressure cooker is a Presto 6 qt and I used a NuWave cooktop with it. I am a full time RVer so my altitude changes frequently. And that probably was the problem because I am at 4,259 feet and I forgot to adjust for the high altitude. Next week I’ll be at 2584 ft so I’ll try the recipe again. It really was not cooked. Will I have to adjust times at the new elevation? Thank you!
Trisha
Hi Trisha, ok there are two issues that undercooked your oatmeal.
Yes, you need to increase the pressure cooking time by 15% at above 4000 feet. For future reference you can find the time adjustment chart on this page (near the top):
http://www.hippressurecooking.com/pressure-cooking-times/
The other issue is using and induction burner. You should be brining your cooker up to pressure using “medium” induction heat, not high heat – the cooker should take about 10 minutes to come to pressure. This will heat the metal all over the cooker and ensure that enough air is pushed out of the cooker for it to reach the maximum heat for that pressure. Here are my tips for pressure cooking with induction:
http://www.hippressurecooking.com/7-dos-donts-of-pressure-cooking-with-induction/
So, next time, pressure cook your steel-cut oatmeal for 5 minutes (at 4k+feet) and bring the cooker up to pressure using medium heat (for induction). Come back to let us know how it worked out!
Ciao,
L
I followed all your suggestions and my steel cut oats came out perfect! Thank you so much for your help!
Thanks for coming back to tell us about it, Trisha!
Ciao,
L
Hello,
I do think you might have confused rolled oats with steel cut oats. Rolled oats are the flat ones. They only take 5 to 10 minutes on the stove top, according to the directions. It seems unlikely it should take longer in the pressure cooker. I tried cooking steel cut oats today for 3 minutes with a natural release and it was nowhere near cooked. Then I tried it for 10 minutes and it was cooked perfectly.
Please share with us what pressure cooker you have and if you’re using a cooktop what kind of cooktop it is. Also, if you live at sea level or not.
Ciao,
L
I used an instant pot. I live at a regular altitude (New York). Three minutes was really not working for me with natural release and lots of stirring. Ten minutes, however, did produce good results.
Hi Laura, for some reason I’m not getting the timing chart or the cooking recipe to show only HTML Bracket like: [thumbnailgrid cat=’657′ height=’180px’ width=’180px’ posts_per_page=’999′]
Help?
Mike
You are not vieweing the article from the original URL:
http://www.hippressurecooking.com/pressure-cooker-oatmeal-how-to/
Click on the link above – it should show you everything.
Ciao,
L
Thanks Laura for responding so quickly. I’m going to make some steel cut oaks now.
Mike
OK, I followed the recipe, 1/4 cups SC oats, 3/4 cup Unsweetened Almond milk, small pinch of salt, and ( 5 drops of Stevia Extract to sweeten the Almond Milk). Three minutes on high, natural release ( which took some 20 minutes ). Voila! Creamy, soft nuggets, a bit weak on the sweetner, so I added a tablespoon of Pure Maple sryup, perfect! Thank you. I checked your book & it will be available about March 4th or so, it’s in my cart!
Mike
I can confirm that steel-cut oats only take 3 to 3.5 minutes at high pressure in a PC (with natural release). The time seems to vary slightly from one lot of oats to another. I make them directly in the PC and have never had clogging or sticking. I use 1 cup Bob’s SC oats + 3 cups liquid in a 4 quart BRK PC. I put in a pinch of salt + cinnamon stick and part of a vanilla bean. I usually use part almond or soy milk and frequently stir in some dried milk granules before cooking to increase protein and calcium. After cooking, I stir in raisins or craisins. I store the leftovers in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. This is basically Jill Nussinow’s recipe from one of her PC cookbooks (dried milk my addition).
Hi Laura , I just cooked some instant oats as that’s what I had on hand. Cooked in organic almond/coconut milk( fresh from supermarket fridge, not tin) They did only take a couple of minutes to cook, will definitely use this method from here on thank you!! Two questions please.. #1 Is it compulsory to add the salt? I used the smallest pinch and found it too overpowering for my taste as I’ve never salted my oats personally.
#2 is it compulsory to add the butter/ oil seeing that the milk combination has natural fat in it? That too is something I don’t normally do and could really taste the butter.
I hope you don’t think my questions are silly, I’m just not sure if these changes unbalance the process, as I’m still learning with my stove top pressure cooker. And enjoy my oats quite plain with some added cinnamon.
The salt is up to you. When cooking oatmeal directly in the bowl, you do not HAVE to add a fat – as you would when cooking grains directly in the pressure cooker base. The more delicate in-the-bowl cooking reduces the foam that would ordinarily be created during the pressure cooking process.
I have not tested the cooking times of Instant Oats. Since you would just add boiling water and they are ready – other than preparing them in advance – I don’t really see ANY advantage to pressure cooking them.
Ciao,
L
Hi Laura! Thanks so much for this recipe. I tried it this morning in my instant pot duo–I put 3/4 cup water and 1/4 cup steel cut oats in a pyrex cup on the trivet with 2 cups water in the base. Used manual to set to cook on high pressure for three minutes and waited for natural release, which took about 11 minutes. When I opened it, it was still way too watery even after stirring. I know other people with instant pots are getting perfect results–so I must be doing something wrong! What should I do differently? Thanks so much! Ellen
Hi Ellen, are you living at sea level or high altitude?
Ciao,
L
Hi Laura, Thank you for answering me. I am at sea level. I am finding I need about 5 minutes, so I’m not that far off. Is it possibly because I am not using a timer, i.e. not soaking overnight? Is the timing the same if you set it all up in the morning? Thanks so much for your site and cookbook–it’s all amazingly helpful!
Ellen
Hi Ellen, the cooking time is the same if you cook it “right now” vs. overnight soaking. It is likely less for the soaked oats, but the difference between 1 and 3 minutes is so small I didn’t think it worthwhile to test. Especially since you likely won’t even be there while the soaked oats are pressure cooking, anyway. : )
Ciao,
L
Thanks Laura! Making them every morning. Love the technique!
Hi Laura,
If I understand correctly, you live in Rome, Italy, right? I have also lived in Rome for many years and have yet to find steel-cut oats. I like rolled oats but would really love to get the steel-cut version without spending oodles to have them sent from the UK. Do you know where I could find them in Rome?
Many thanks!
Nichole, I looked EVERYWHERE for them in Italy. Even my military friends couldn’t find steel-cut oats at the store of the American base in Naples. I had to special-order them. : )
You can get a good deal looking for Irish Oats on Amazon UK. There you can get 7.5k of steel-cut oats for under €35 (including shipping to Italy).
http://amzn.to/24DNIyx
I paid almost that much for a single 680g canister from Amazon Italy!
Ciao,
L
P.S. The steel-cut oats I used for testing and photographs are this brand. I have also cooked Bob’s Red Mill steel-cut oats while spending the summer in the U.S. (San Francisco Bay Area where it’s cold in the summer). If I had known steel-cut oats would have been so difficult to find here I would have brought a few pounds back with me to Italy!
So you are confirming my conclusion that you can’t get them in Italy. Ahimè! I was hoping you were going to tell me about a tiny little store somewhere in the historic center that sells them.
I don’t think I can order 7,5 kg of oats because I just don’t have any place to store it all! I guess I’ll have to wait until my next trip to visit family to pick some up at a decent price. I do the same with nutritional yeast, which I also haven’t been able to find here. In the meantime, I’ll try the recipe with groats.
Thanks for your feedback!
Stay tuned, because I lamented not being able to find unsweetened cranberry juice in Italy (in the cranberry sauce recipe) and an Italian reader commented telling me where to find it! : )
Pietra?!?!
Ciao,
L
I’ll keep an eye on this thread and see if anyone has any ideas for us. BTW, I would be willing to do a bulk order of steel-cut oats or other products with you and others so keep me in mind if it comes up.
Hopefully you can find the oats you want, but groats are great in my book. I find, as well as friends I’ve turned on to them, they taste fresher than steel-cut ones. Because the grain is intact, it’s less subject to rancidity or off-flavors. Longer cooking, though. You can get them creamy, once cooked, with a quick spin in the food processor.
Thanks for the suggestion, Suzanne. I’m going to try the oat groats tomorrow. Unfortunately, I was only able to find pre-cooked groats so I’m not exactly sure of the timing. The food processor idea is great!
Hi, Laura.
Thanks for this – I make oatmeal for breakfast a lot (usually I would microwave it to save time but it’s not the same). Since I can’t really babysit oatmeal on the stove in the morning, this is perfect for me! I use either pyrex bowls or mason jars & I can prep them (with or without milk) ahead of time for the “busy” weekdays.
I made the rolled oats first with water – 10min in the Instant Pot & they came out perfect! Added fresh blueberries, almonds & a little sugar. Another time I added chocolate chips. Yum! I have to try this with a little pumpkin puree. Oatmeal is so versatile & this bowl-in-the-pot method let’s me experiment. :)
I also made some with Califa sweetened almond milk (a pretty rich almond milk) – 10min may have been a minute or two too much so I’m going to keep experimenting. Conversely, the steel cut oats seemed underdone – they were soupy and undercooked even after stirring (I’m at sea level). I’ll try 4-5min next time (I usually prefer rolled oats, but had some steel cut leftover from another recipe.).
A couple of questions:
(1) If I add powdered peanut butter or chia seeds, do you think the liquid ratio should be increased a little? (I thought I’d ask, but if you don’t know, I’ll experiment. ;) )
(2) If I add frozen fruit (berries/strawberries/mango), I think the cooking time would be the same, right? (I think it may take a little longer to get to pressure – would you recommend adding more water to the pot?)
(3) Could a mixture of yogurt and milk be used?
Thanks, Laura!
Gloria, you’l have to experiment with the powdered peanut butter and chia seeds. Try without changing anything first and then go from there. For example dried fruit was not a problem but dried coconut was. It probably depends on how much of that food is a “water hog” compared to the oatmeal.
Don’t change the cooking time with small frozen fruit – the liquid in the oatmeal will likely defrost it before the cooker reaches pressure.
As to mixing yogurt and milk… I suspect the yogurt might be too thick to be absorbed by the oatmeal and pressure cooking it would basically kill anything beneficial about it. I like to stir-in yogurt when I’m finished pressure cooking the oatmeal. It cools down the oatmeal (so I can eat it faster) and gives a nice refreshing tang.
Ciao,
L
Thanks, Laura! You’re always so helpful!
Hi Laura,
I think porridge / oats is the most disgusting thing ever invented to cook, i would try hard but could never cook it, it would be gluey, lumpy, too runny, too dry, and the taste ewww was hideous. I reverted to buying multipack flavoured quick easy microwaveable full of preservatives and sugar ones, also ewww, they would sit in the cupboard for months as the kids picked the ones they liked and left the others to either expire or i’d get over them and throw them out.
However upon discovering your oats in a pressure cooker i can say i’m converted. I now make oats every morning for myself and the kids, yes myself i love it. I make them with frozen fruit as the freeze dried fruit is hard to find and when we do it’s expensive.
This morning i made pear porridge with the frozen pears using your instructions, after the porridge was cooked I add organic honey as a sweetener and walnuts so so yum, so thanks so so much.
Jodean8, I am wondering what type of bowl container you used. And what type of oatmeal. Mine was pretty much a disaster.
Hi JK
I used rolled oats, i’m in Australia, I also used a round French white Corningware dish, 1 and a half quarts or 1.4 litre. I use it to make 2 por more serves,
if I am making a single serve I use a French white round Corningware 16oz or 473 ml
Hope this helps
Cheers Jo
What setting did you use on your pressure cooker? How much have you used it before? Having oats floating in water is really a sign that the cooker didn’t get hot enough and I’m wondering if you used a low setting, or if the cooker didn’t reach pressure.
Ciao,
L
Nutricook. 1/4 cup quick oats, 3/4 cup water for creamy. 1 minute on high (fish setting), natural release. Got oats floating in water. Should have got photo I guess but was in hurry. Will report back on further attempts with Nutricook’s peculiar settings.
Laura, what pressure setting would you like me to experiment with? (for the purpose of ending up with a possible recommendation you can add to the list.)
• Veg: 40 kPa = 5,8 psi / Soft steam phase after cooking at pressure: 3 minutes
• Starch: 55 kPa = 8 psi / Soft steam phase after cooking at pressure: 6 minutes
• Meat: 70 kPa = 10,15 psi / Soft steam phase after cooking at pressure: 10 minutes
• Fish: 85 kPa = 12,3 psi / Soft steam phase after cooking at pressure: 4 minutes
Randal, I think you’ll have to play around with the timing – because I know you know how to use your pressure cooker! Oats are, afterall, a natural – not manufactured- product. I’m thinking there are going to be some variances in the timing depending on the harvest, processing and storage of the oats. Start with my guidelines and then adjust the timing to your particular brand of oats.
Ciao,
L
I think I have figured out why some people (including me) are having trouble with the steel cut oats timing (and others are not). When I clicked on the links Laura posted for the steel cut oats she uses, it’s the same BRAND as what I have (McCann’s), but hers are “quick cook” (Quick & Easy on the label) and mine are not. The stove top simmering time for the ones she uses is 5-7 minutes – mine is 30 minutes!! I’ve tried three times using my InstantPot to use the recipe, and the oats are simply not cooked after 3 minutes (and a very long NPR). I stir and stir after the top comes off, and it is still very soupy, even after it cools down a lot. The oats are a bit chewy, too. So given that we are using different steel cut oats (standard vs Quick & Easy), I think that the timing will be longer for the standard. I’m just not sure how long… I guess it’s time to experiment! Here is a link to McCann’s website that shows how they have two versions of steel cut oats: http://www.mccanns.ie/products.html
Lisa, it is true that those are the steel-cut oats I purchased to photograph this oatmeal special from Italy, last month. However I have tested the timing of steel-cut oats in the U.S. for several years. The last tests I did were when I was in New York using Bob’s Red Mill brand.
This is the same cooking time that I have had published for several years in the cooking chart and in the grain infographic (published 3 years ago):
http://www.hippressurecooking.com/infographic-pressure-cooking-grains-is-faster/
Oats are a plant not factory-made product, there will be variances between brands in terms of age, processing and drying that will affect the pressure cooking times.
Ciao,
L