Steel Cut Oatmeal

I've been wanting to try steel cut oatmeal for a while now. I found some on sale and saw that as a sign to get on the ball and see what all the fuss was about. My first batch was overnight apple pie steel cut oatmeal by Good Life Eats.

I'm pretty sure that I didn't cook the oats for long enough. The recipe says to soak the oats overnight and then cook them for 5 min. They were still way too crunchy, almost as crunchy as if they had not been cooked at all.


The directions on the tin of oatmeal said they needed to cook for 30 min. Since the oats were soaked overnight I thought cooking them for 15 minutes would be sufficient. They were still too crunchy. Mrblocko did not like the texture or the flavor of the cardamom at all.


I thought that the texture would be softer the second day after having sat in the fridge for a whole day and with the additional cooking time needed to reheat it. It was slightly better, but I didn't like the tartness of the apple so I picked them out. I also added a bit more brown sugar. The oatmeal still had a very grainy chewy texture. I didn't mind it so much, but Mrblocko did, so I ate the rest of the oatmeal for the next bajillion years.


After a bajillion and one years, I tried this recipe from the Greenest Dollar. It bakes up in the crockpot. I put all the ingredients in before bed and let it cook overnight on low. I also put a non-terry cloth dish towel under the lid to catch the steamy stuff before it escaped. Surprisingly, the towel was totally wet by breakfast.


Some of the edges got a bit crusty. I picked the worst parts out and stirred the rest back into the oatmeal. They dissolved right back in and no one was the wiser. (Well, at least until now.)

The texture of these steal cut oats was closer to the "regular" rolled oats we normally eat. They had slightly more bite to them, but not enough to prevent Mrblocko from eating them and their leftovers.


While steal oats are supposed to be more nutritious, as they have not had all their goodness smashed out of them, I think the Blocko's prefer the old fashioned rolled oats. I guess I'm not surprised, often times the stuff that is good for you doesn't taste as good as the stuff that isn't so good for you. I don't plan on making more oatmeal out of the steal cut oats anytime in the near future. I did find this maple oatmeal bread from the Fresh Loaf that I think will be a great way to use up the rest of the steal cut oats.

Cooking Steel Cut Oats In A Crockpot from the Greenest Dollar
1 cup steel cut oats (DO NOT substitute old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats)
4 1/2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2-3 tablespoons butter
cooking spray

Start by spraying your crock pot with cooking spray- This was a reader tip in the comments section, and it really helped cut the clean-up time the next morning because the oatmeal didn’t stick a bit! So, don’t forget to do this. Pour in the water, oats, salt, and butter. Cook on Low for 6-8 hrs.