So, back story a bit -- late last week, we could see that the coming Saturday, Sunday, and Monday were going to be terribly hot. And we don't have A/C or any other significant way to cool our meagerly insulated home, just a couple of table fans. So, every extra bit of heat added to our house on an already hot day makes us miserable. We decided that we wouldn't use the stove, oven, or even crockpot for the three hot days to come. This drove me to find alternative ways to cook.
Obviously, the microwave is a great way to cook without heating the house. But I was also interested in finding other ways to cook. That's when I stumbled upon the idea of using a thermos to "cook" grains. I cooked both rice and oatmeal in a wide-mouth thermos.
To cook rice in a thermos, you need to parboil the rice and water for 5 minutes prior to putting it into a preheated thermos. (To preheat a thermos, boil a cup of water in the microwave and put into thermos then cap.) So, I used the microwave on reduced power (40%) for 5 minutes to cook the rice, water, and salt. After 5 minutes, I poured the preheating water out and rice, water, salt mixture into a thermos then allowed it to stand for an hour and a half. Afterward, I had cooked rice. I tried this with white rice, because it takes less time to cook in general. I haven't tried this with brown rice, but I did read that you can cook brown rice in a thermos this same way.
I also wanted to make some oatmeal to have for breakfast the next morning as we were low on other breakfast options. This time, I didn't bother preheating the thermos. For each serving, I boiled 2/3 cup of water in the microwave. I measured 1/3 cup of regular rolled oats and pinch of salt for each serving and put into the empty thermos, then poured the boiled water on top and sealed with the lid. I left this on the counter overnight and by morning, I had completely cooked oatmeal.
The "value" in using my thermos to cook grains was not just in keeping the kitchen cooler. But also, with the oatmeal in particular, my experiments showed me a way to "cook" food in a power outage or off the grid. I can usually find a way to boil water even without power, using Sterno, a grouping of candles under a pan (in a safe space, like inside my oven), the outdoor grill, or the evening fire pit while camping.
Cooking the oatmeal in a thermos gave me an idea that I'll follow up on -- adding mix-ins to the oats and water the evening before. This could be a fun way for my family members to make their own customized oatmeal while camping or staying in a hotel. Everyone gets their own thermos and chooses from mix-ins like dried fruit, chocolate chips, chopped nuts/seeds, cinnamon, and brown sugar.
