Does anyone know a practical way of making steel cut oatmeal (irish oatmeal) using a minimal amount of fuel. Normally at home takes about 20-40 minutes to cook.

The longet you can soak it, the less time it will need to cook.

Soak it overnight. Then all you have to do is heat it up and add your "extras" (raisins, maple syrup, etc.)!

I make it all the time at home by bringing water to a boil then adding the oatmeal and taking it off the heat. I don't heat the water after adding the oatmeal.

I do this before going to bed, and the oatmeal is done in the morning. I just warm it back up. I found the instructions for preparing it this way in an Irish cook book.

Prior to this I was soaking the oatmeal overnight in room temperature water, but still had to bring it to a boil and simmer it for a while to finish absorbing the water. I suspect it would taste uncooked too, but I never tasted it before cooking.