Hamlyns of Scotland - Porridge Oats, Oatmeal & Giveaway

Thursday 23 April 2015
Hamlyns of Scotland, producers of Scottish Oatmeal and Porridge Oats are celebrating their 50th Birthday this year. That's a lot of porridge for breakfast even by Goldilocks and the three bears standard. Their traditional range of Oats and Oatmeal is produced from premium Scottish oats, grown and milled in Scotland - 100% Scottish from seed to mill to finished product. Hamlyns work closely with a network of farmers across Scotland, with the majority of their supplier located in the north east of Scotland, near their oat mill at Boyndie in Banffshire, in the heart of Scotland’s oat growing countryside. 



Hamlyns sent me the full selection of their products to try out. I was already very familiar with their Porridge Oats and Oatmeal but they also offer the convenience of new porridge sachets and instant porridge pots. These are a quick and convenient way to cook delicious porridge just in two minutes. Both products are available in three varieties - Original, Golden Syrup and Mixed Berry. If you prefer to make your porridge from oats or oatmeal, their traditional range includes Scottish Oatmeal, Scottish Porridge Oats, Scottish Porridge Oats & Bran and Pinhead Oatmeal in a re-sealable tin. All four varieties can be used to make a delicious porridge, each with a different distinctive taste and texture. A general rule is the finer the porridge oats or oatmeal, the shorter the cooking time required. The cooking time is reduced further if you choose porridge oats, as the oats are lightly steamed in the mill before they are rolled.


The eternal question is of course how do you take your porridge? I'm salt all the way whilst my children love it with sugar, honey or syrup. Unlike my sassenach offspring I just can't do the sweet thing. Scottish traditionalists will insist that porridge should contain nothing more than oats, water and salt. That's a wee bit too austere and brose like for me. I like milk in mine and a good sprinkling of oatmeal on the top is an absolute must. My childhood porridge came in a Royal Doulton Bunnykins porrindger and was always accompanied by a bowl of milk on the side and the rhyme "How many rabbits running round the plate? Quick eat it up before its too late!"


There's a lot more to Porridge Oats and Oatmeal than breakfast. Cranachan and Skirlie are particular Scottish favourites and of course oatmeal features in haggis and black pudding. A quick look back through my own posts found plenty of baking recipes for Oatcakes, Muffins, Crumble and Flapjacks.



I used some of the pinhead oatmeal to make an affa fine tea. Real traditional fare but it fair hit the spot. Herring in Oatmeal. Make up a paste with English Mustard and a wee splash of milk. Brush it on the herring fillet and press on a coating of Pinhead Oatmeal. Pan Fry oatmeal side down in Scottish Rapeseed Oil until golden then flip over and fry the skin side. It received a lot of love on my Facebook page along with a comment which I absolutely loved which one of my likers shared. Her mum had a saying about herring "fry me belly then my back said the herring to the fat!"


Hamlyns have provided a fantastic 50th Birthday Celebration Hamper as a giveaway for readers of Foodie Quine. Worth around £200 it contains a Sophie Conran for Portmeirion white china breakfast set for two, a Hamlyns teddy and apron, a wooden spurtle and the full range of Hamlyns traditional and instant porridge and oatmeal.

Entry is via the Rafflecopter widget below. To enter, let me know in a comment "What do you put on/in your Porridge?" For additional bonus entries you can follow me and Hamlyns on Twitter, Tweet about the Giveaway or like me on Facebook. Giveaway ends 13th May 2015 12:00am. Good Luck! 





Disclosure - Hamlyns provided me with product and commissioned me for writing this post. All views expressed are my own.

224 comments

  1. I like putting honey on my porridge xxx

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  2. I put blueberries and honey on top of mine - just a few blueberries each day :-)

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  3. honey and almonds yumm ! fab giveaway xx

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  4. sultanas, honey and cinnamon..

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  5. Just a little bit of sugar. :)

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  6. Lynsey Buchanan23 April 2015 at 22:22

    Golden Syrup

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  7. Banana & agave nectar! Yummy!

    Jen xx
    www.kitsch-n-sync.com

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  8. It has to be orange blossom honey everytime:)

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  9. I cook it with bananas, then add frozen berries, a teaspoon of chia seeds, sliced apple and sometimes chopped strawberries.

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  10. honey and milk or a sprinkling of golden granulated sugar!

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  11. a tiny bit of sugar and fresh raspberries - ideally leave for a few minutes until they start to 'melt' into the porridge - delish!

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  12. Usually golden syrup, but sometimes raisins and/or banana

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  13. Mixed berries and a drizzle of honey.

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  14. Honey, Salt, Grapes, whatever I fancy at time

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  15. I usually put banana and golden syrup on mine

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  16. Forest fruits and strawberry jam

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  17. Nuts and blueberries

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  18. I always put maple syrup on my porridge.

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  19. Honey tastes lovely with porridge.

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  21. Has to be New Zealand Manuku Honey

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  22. syrup or runny honey and some fruit

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  23. cinnamon and raisins or fruit

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  24. A sprinkle of cinnamon and a dash of maple syrup :)

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  25. pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar

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  26. GOLDEN SYRUP, OR DEMERERA SUGAR

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  27. just a sprinkle of sugar and a little milk

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  28. I like to drizzle honey on my porridge.

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  29. I usually have fresh berry fruits or stewed Apple

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  30. Sprinkle of sugar and warm milk

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  31. I make mine with dessicated coconut and cinnamon and then add a dollop of Greek yoghurt on top

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  32. I eat mine naked. Porridge should be pure

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  33. Strawberry Jam
    Katherine S

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  34. A teaspoon of sugar

    Fiona S

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  35. I love my porridge topped with a splash of milk and sliced banana.

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  36. I love my porridge with brown sugar - can't do it with salt!!

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  37. Almond butter, chia seeds and goji berries, with blueberries too!

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  38. A little bit of brown sugar

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  39. My mum makes the best porridge ever with only oatmeal, salt and water - cooked slowly over night it turns out almost like cream. I eat a lot of porridge and put lots of different things in and on it depending on what we have in the house and what I feel like. Not liking mine particularly sweet, clotted cream is an indulgent favourite ;-)

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  40. Cinnamon, hemp seeds, brown sugar, sultanas & banana

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  41. Nothing it is great au naturale

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  42. Sugajade - I love runny honey

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  43. Raspberries or blueberries, or even both!

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  44. Golden Syrup - Joanne Beale

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  45. golden syrup or a sprinkling of sugar

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  46. I put a layer of bran flakes on mine

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  47. butter salt sweet

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  48. Only honey goes on my porridge!

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  49. Golden syrup! It could never be healthy...

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  50. Liz Doody - Cinnamon

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  51. A few grains of sugar, trying to wean myself off!

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  52. honey or/and sunflower seeds

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  53. milk and sugar are the best

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  54. Brown sugar.

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  55. What do you put on your Porridge? ............. honey mmmmmmm

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  56. jam or honey

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  57. golden syrup, sultanas & cinnamon

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  58. A dash of cold milk to cool it

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  59. Protein powder and fruit, usually bananas.

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  60. Chopped bananas and honey

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  61. almond milk/water, blueberries and raspberries

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  62. Lots of lovely golden syrup!

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  63. It is made with either chocolate or vanilla Ensure milkshake and then we add a sprinkle of sugar just gorgeous

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  64. Golden syrup :) My son likes a sprinkle of drinking choc in his

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  65. Sugar or golden syrup :o) Rafflecopter entries are in my real name NIKKI HAYES

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  66. Whatever jam we have available :)

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  67. Mixed seeds

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  68. depends on my mood, sometimes sugar and sometimes peanut butter and banana

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  69. brown sugar and apple and cinnamon

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  70. Any fruit I have in! Usually with a squeeze of agave nectar as well :D

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  71. i love to put on cinnamon!

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  72. A touch of brown sugar

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  73. I have banana, the children have a little sprinkle of sugar. Sets you up for the day!

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  74. stewed apple and cinnamon

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  75. Sugar - I like how the sugar melts on the top, and then you can swirl it in. I like the golden syrup instant too. My ex's parents made it with salt, oh how revolting! Well, in my opinion.

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  76. Sugar, honey or jam are all good toppings.

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  77. milk n sugar

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  78. Sugar or golden syrup

    Kay Panayi

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  79. Just sugar for me and sometimes a dollop of honey

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  80. Christina Palmer8 May 2015 at 11:42

    A splash of milk with either raisons or currants

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  81. Peanut butter - It's SO good!

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  82. a little blob of butter and sugar.

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  83. A dash of cold milk and a drizzle on honey and Im a happy Porridge girl! We have porridge almost every morning and bake with oats a lot too! Mmmm

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  84. I really enjoy a sprinkle of sugar and a splash of milk with my porridge! yummy :)

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  85. flavoured honey or sometimes a dollop of nutella:)

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  86. Honey and blueberries

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  87. I put a bit of jam and milk on mine.

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  88. Amanda Gregory11 May 2015 at 15:23

    Honey, chopped nuts and raspberries (when I have them)

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  89. Just a little bit of sugar and some milk x

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  90. A sprinkling of brown sugar.

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  91. Just a little bit of milk and a few blueberries

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  92. A handful of blueberries, a squirt of acacia honey, a few sunflower seeds and a bit of milk.

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  93. fresh fruit with natural yogurt

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