OVERNIGHT HOT CEREALS

A slow cooker is the best tool to make a morning porridge. For one thing, you can stir the ingredients together the night before and don’t have to worry about making breakfast before the coffee’s kicked in. For another, slow cooking softens grains without drying them out.

However, various models of slow cookers work at different temperatures, even on low. If yours cooks hotter and you find dried bits of porridge at the edges, reduce the cooking time by an hour or increase the liquid used by 25 percent. The mixture can still stay on the keep-warm setting until you’re out of bed.

All these porridges were made in a smaller, 4-quart slow cooker. If you want to use a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker, increase most of the ingredients by 50 percent, but increase any flavorings like dried spices or vanilla extract by only 25 percent.