Scottish Highland Dresser - porridge drawer?!

I was reading an article about Welsh dressers, and it mentions dressers from other geographical areas:

“The Scottish Highland dresser, for example, had a porridge drawer — a tin-lined drawer into which hot porridge was poured and left to set. When cold, slices could be cut and taken out by crofters working out on the land. Delicious!”

I have searched for some images of what this could have looked like, but found nothing at all.

Would anyone have an image of a dresser with a porridge drawer they could post here? Thank you!

 

Hi,
It sounds like a made up thought from a seller.
greg

 

No this is not a single seller saying it but an article. And a quick google comes up with enough mentions, not just on sites like Reddit. That’s not to say one should believe everything you read online though!
Wentworth

 

I have heard the porridge-draw story told before, however it may have been something which was done, rather than having a specific draw solely for porridge use. It does seem to be a true story though, and was a practice used by many.

Scotland,historic discovery - "The Porridge Drawer" | Singletrack Magazine Forum (singletrackworld.com)

 

WHA? That's mad.

 

https://electricscotland.com/poetry/douglas/oskar2.htm

"In the highlands and islands the porridge was poured into a drawer in the kitchen dresser or cabinet and left to set. In the morning, fresh porridge was made for breakfast and a slice or two of the now set porridge from the drawer was taken to the workplace, usually out in the fields attending to the crops or animals. Any babies born to these poorer families were put to “bed” in a drawer, usually above the porridge drawer, and the slow rising heat acted as a kind of central heating for the well-wrapped child."

The drawer would have to be set up in such a way that the set porridge could be removed in slices. I can't imagine a slice of porridge being as cohesive as a slice of bread... bwdik.

 

I wonder if it's a repurposed drawer. My old sideboard has a cellarette drawer and while mine isn't metal lined (though it could have been at one time) some are.

 

As a kid, my mother often served hot "Cream of Wheat" (farina) for breakfast, with milk & sugar. I hated those mornings!

Then she poured the leftovers into an empty aluminium ice-cube tray, sans the divider and put it in the frig.

The next morning she cut slabs, pan-fried it in butter and served it with maple syrup. I LOVED those mornings!

 

Goldilocks was killed for eating someone else's porridge.


The murderers did it with their bear hands.

 

I much prefer to keep my porridge nice & warm in the tumble dryer. LOL

 

In the name of science, I've just tried putting porridge in my drawer.


Trust me, it ruins your clothes. .

 

Actually, she wasn't killed.

 

Sounds like what is done with left over polenta, that slices nicely

 

Dresser is used today for clothes but kitchen cabinets or sideboards with drawers were also called dressers.

 

Actually, on the farm, we made a lot of mixtures of meat (left over bits such as ears, tails, guts), gels (from hooves) and grain that were put in large pans on the cold porch to set. Then they could be cut, sometimes fried and served. Liver puds and ponhorst (sp?) come to mind. They would be good for a long time. So certainly a possibility.

 

Yummy! What times dinner? LOL

 

Thanks for the great mix of responses!

And that’s incredible if true!!

 

Yes, my guess would be a drawer was given over to that use rather than being pre designed. A tin lining could have easily been made-to-fit any drawer in the dresser and then simply slotted in (like a square cake tin).

This would explain the lack of any photos because the ‘porridge drawer’ would actually be any old drawer that someone placed a tin box into...

 

Well I just went and had a better look, actually there are two drawers that have remains of tin/lead-like lining. They are the two large square deep drawers left and right.

Sorry for the terrible photos, I'm rearranging and there is stuff piled in front of it.

 

Wow fascinating! Maybe this was a common method for storing food?