Simmering Meals and Cereals

Appears in
Professional Cooking: 8th Edition
Professional Cooking

By Wayne Gisslen

Published 2014

  • About
Procedures for cooking meals and cereals such as polenta and oatmeal differ somewhat from procedures for cooking whole grains. Cracked or flaked cereals such as rolled oats consist of large particles. They are usually stirred into boiling water. Because of the size of the particles, there is little danger of lumping.

Granular meals such as cornmeal can be stirred into boiling water if care is taken to add the grain slowly and to stir constantly and vigorously while doing so, in order to avoid lumps. See the recipe for polenta. Alternatively, combine the meal with cold liquid, stir, and bring to a simmer while continuing to stir. Mixing the meal with cold liquid separates the granules to prevent lumping.