I am passionate about porridge. I eat it every day and it is the king of breakfasts.

It is also a malleable breakfast. It's convenient. If your office or home has a microwave you are only five minutes away from a delicious hot meal that will sustain you until lunch and beyond.

I am a porridge samurai. I've been cooking porridge in a microwave practically every working day for the past three years. During this time I have sharpened my sword. Today I would like to share with you my techniques.

Porridge is amazing, but porridge can also be terrible. If you’re not cooking it right porridge can transform from the breakfast of your dreams to a clumpy, inedible mess.

Thankfully, most people who make porridge wrong tend to make the same mistakes.

Porridge is great, for many reasons. Chief among them -- the malleable nature of it. Mold your porridge, let it take the shape of your innermost desires. Porridge is a blank canvas, paint my friends. Paint.

Toppings are where porridge comes alive. Here are my favourites, ranked.

If you're a fan of porridge you might have seen a different breed of oats appearing on supermarket shelves: the super charged STEEL CUT OATS.

But what are steel cut oats? How are they different from regular rolled oats? And more importantly -- how the hell do you cook them?

Porridge. In January 2013 I ate porridge every morning for breakfast. It started as a holiday thing. I loved it so much that I decided to eat it for breakfast forever. In 2013 I estimate that, out of 365 days of the year, I didn’t eat porridge roughly 20 days. That’s a fairly good innings.

I learned some things along the way.

Some offices that have snacks around have packets of microwave oats. They're easy snacks and breakfasts, and you just need a bowl and some water, but they're a little boring. The fix is easy: Grab a banana. Bring one from home, or maybe there's one in that same pantry.

Steel cut oats make for a delicious healthy breakfast. For an added kick, The Kitchn has a suggestion: Toast the oats first in the same saucepan you plan to cook them in. They'll get a rich, nutty, sweetness that really adds to the flavour with minimal effort.

Fridge smells a little funky but you don't have any bicarb soda handy? Oats can fill in as a natural alternative.

Cast iron pans are awesome for cooking, but decidedly less awesome to clean. If you're having trouble removing caked-on food and grease, some oatmeal can do the trick.

Every week, we share the shortcuts, workspaces and productivity tips of our
favourite experts and internet personalities in our How I Work series.
Throughout this week, we're giving readers a glimpse into how we
work. Today, Kotaku Australia editor Mark Serrels shares his productivity tricks and tips.

Neil Gaiman is an insanely talented writer with much to say on the subject of effective writing, drafting, apologising and, oddly enough (although this is Neil Gaiman) the best way to shave.

Blanket advertising means you're probably aware that TV cooking contest MasterChef returns to Channel 10 this Sunday night. But if you're a judge on the show, how can you organise your own daily meals? Matt Preston reveals his sometimes porridge/sometimes bacon diet.

Last week, we asked some professional chefs (and the Lifehacker team) what dishes and drinks everyone should be able to cook for themselves. We heard some basic sauces, delicious dishes and drinks that are easy to make, and some other foods that require bedrock cooking skills. Now we're curious what you think everyone should be able to make for themselves or their families.

Heading into work early to dodge the crowds whatever your form of commute, but it can be hard to muster up enthusiasm for a plate of muesli at five in the morning. My solution to this is to have breakfast once I hit the office, and I'm wondering how common an approach that is.