Experimenting with Multigrain Porridge

[sky]

I recently tried a food that was new to me, a multigrain cereal, similar to flaked oats or steel cut oats. I had heard about this type of cereal but always was skeptical because of the cooking time required, which is 20 minutes for flaked cereals and 3 hours for whole grain cereals.

After reading about health benefits of whole grains, I decided to try out this product:

https://www.clnf.org/7-grain-cereal-og

It contains cracked wheat, rye grits, barley grits, millet, cornmeal, flax, and steel cut oats.

A similar product is available at a lower cost for the nonorganic version:

https://www.clnf.org/7-gr-cereal-flakes-w-flax

The recipe is one part cereal to four parts water, plus a pinch or two of salt. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring frequently. One half cup of dry cereal is a good amount for one person.

The flavor is excellent, a buttery, nutty flavor with a chewy consistency similar to oatmeal. I did not add butter or sweeteners and did not feel that any were needed.

I could see making this my regular breakfast. I have wanted to add more whole grains to my diet and this is a good way to do so. I don't have any scientific backing, but I have heard that the variety of grains in the cereal mix are better for you than oatmeal alone. After eating the cereal, I was satisfied and generally felt good, they seem to digest well.

The cereal is stored dry and is very suitable for long term storage emergency food. It requires only water and a bit of salt to make a high quality breakfast.

To reduce cooking time, I tried an overnight soak:

1/2 cup cereal
2 cups water
Soak overnight
Add 2 pinches salt
Bring to boil, simmer 5 minutes

The result was a porridge cooked in 5 minutes with a similar consistency to the 20 minute no soak version.

The cost per meal purchasing the organic 2lb package is $0.40 per serving.

The nonorganic 1.6lb package is $0.30 per serving.

For the frugal, the $50, 50lb nonorganic bag of cereal provides 348 servings at $0.15 per serving.

The above examples are flaked cereals, which means they have been cooked and rolled, then dried. There is a less processed version that is cracked whole grains which have not been heated. I have not tried this yet, but the cracked whole grain cereal may be a better choice than the flaked or rolled cereal. Perhaps some of the grains are rolled while others are cracked in a mix of grains.

This looks like a high quality product:

https://www.bobsredmill.com/10-grain-hot-cereal.html

I also purchased a whole grain (uncracked) cereal, but it requires 3 hours of cooking.

https://www.clnf.org/hearty-4-grain-organic-cereal

Hearty 4-Grain Organic Cereal
Ingredients:
Organic Barley, Organic Kamut, Organic Oats, Organic Spelt
Cooking Instructions:
Cook 1 cup cereal to 2 cups water for 3 hours in crock pot on high

I will try this out but the cooking time is outrageous. I have a mill normally used for cracking malted barley, so I may try cracking the whole grains as an experiment. For now I am quite satisfied with the flaked grain version, and soaking overnight allows for a 5 minute cook time, which I find reasonable.

I would also like to experiment with savory flavored porridge, in other words, flavoring the cereal with garlic, broth and herbs, served as lunch or dinner.

If anyone has experience with multigrain porridge, I am interested, I would like to know more before buying larger quantities.

[J_]

I eat about 8 "grains".
Every morning a mix from rolled oats and rolled rye, (combined with almond, walnuts, raisins, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, chinnamon and goji berries). We mix this muesli in bulk ourselves. The evening before I let the servings soak in water. I eat it (uncooked) with home-made soja yoguhrt and fresh fruit. (apple, orange, pinaple, kiwi and pear)

Lunch/supper: barley (soaked one day before cooking), or rye, millet, rice or quinoa (just cook +- 20 minuten)

Ground spelt or buckwheat for pancakes

[sky]

Do you season the grain that you eat for lunch/dinner?

[J_]

We eat the grains for lunch/diner with all kind of greens and beans, onion,ginger, garlic, curcuma. And seasoned with appropriate herbs, seldom with salt.

[KevinW]

Multigrain porridge seems like a good ERE breakfast option. My understanding is that this was a staple of the pre-industrial British peasants' diet.

Bob's Red Mill has similar products that might be available locally if you want to try a smaller amount.

[Frita]

I’d suggest not buying bulk until you know what you prefer. Initially, I liked 10-grain cereal as my mom would make instant oatmeal into a watery mush with some dumpling-like blobs. Fast forward to a food elimination diet for allergies...I actually prefer rolled oats (1/2 cup) with bran (1 tablespoon) cooked with 1 1/2 cups water. It doesn’t take long to cook, even at high altitude. The secret seems to be stirring to make it creamy and thick. I actually crave the stuff, often eating it a second time in the day as a snack.

[sky]

I enjoy the morning porridge very much, and bought a 5 lb bag of the 7 grain cereal, which is 35 servings, and a big bag of dried cranberries to add a handfull at the end of the boil.

[Alphaville]

I bake granola once a week and eat ready (recipe posted in recipes thread).

If your cereals are in flake form, you could try seeing if they bake well. This saves a lot of daily prep and cleanup.

—

Also recently bought some rolled barley for experimenting. I’ve used hulled and pearl barley and prefer hulled actually. This one however I was just curious about. Will try it one of these days.

—

ps: for cracked or whole grains etc, pressure cooker ftw