Oats

Question: Is oat flour the same as rolled oats ground to a powder? I have a recipe that calls for rolled oats to be ground to a powder and it's too time consuming.

Answer: No! There is a reason to the science of using "rolled oats". There are substitue methods and flours you can use but to achieve the desired finished results of the recipe you must stick to the formula. Due to the different compound make-ups of the various types of wheat flours a variation makes a big change, this may help clear this up for you: http://www.foodsubs.com/Flour.html

Question: Help! Can someone tell me the difference between rollled oats and oat bran? Starting off 2008 with one of my resolution being eating more healthy so I have this recipe that calls for oat bran but have rolled oats in hand. Is it ok to just used rolled oats in place of oat bran or is my muffin not going to be the same?

Answer: Bran is the hard outer layer of grain and consists of combined aleurone and pericarp. Along with germ, it is an integral part of whole grains, and is often produced as a by-product of milling in the production of refined grains. When bran is removed from grains, they lose a portion of their nutritional value. Bran is present in and may be milled from any cereal grain, including rice, wheat, maize, oats, and millet. Bran is particularly rich in dietary fiber, and contains significant quantitities of starch, protein, vitamins, and dietary minerals. Rolled oats are oat groats that have been rolled into flat flakes under heavy rollers. The oat, like some other cereals, has a hard, inedible outer hull that must be removed before the grain can be eaten. After the hulls have been removed from the bran-covered oat grains, the remainder is called oat groats. Oat groats can be used as cereal, but since the bran layer makes the grains tough to chew and contains an enzyme that can cause the oats to go rancid, oat groats are usually steam-treated to soften them and denature the enzymes. It can be argued that this process removes the enzyme phytase which would otherwise serve to break down the the high-phytate content of commercial oats which inhibits the absorption of iron by the human body. Steel-cut oats are oat groats that have been chopped into smaller pieces and retain bits of the bran layer. Rolled oats that are sold as oatmeal usually, but not always, have had the tough bran removed. They have often been lightly baked or pressure-cooked. Thick-rolled oats are large whole flakes, and thin-rolled oats are smaller, fragmented flakes. Oat flakes that have simply had the bran removed can be cooked and eaten as "old-fashioned" oatmeal, but more highly fragmented rolled oats absorb water much more easily and therefore cook faster, so they are sometimes called "quick" or "instant" oatmeal.

Question: What is the difference between traditional oats and quick oats? Hi, i was wondering what is the differences between traditional oats and quick oats? The nutritional values are exactly the same, are there difference in taste or texture?

Answer: quick oats are cut smaller so they cook faster

Question: What is the point of buying quick oats for oatmeal? Quaker old fashioned oats take 5 minutes to cook, quaker quick oats take 2 minutes. Are people in that much of a hurry? For quick oats I'm not talking about the instant kind that come in the packet.

Answer: Ericka I will never know the hype of fast food. I like old fashioned oats they taste better and have better fiber and protien for you. People just cut corners and personally Old Fashioned is the way to go. People say that do not have time to exercise time to eat healthy is high up on that list too.

Question: How can I make my Oats Cookies brown? My oats cookies always comes out a light colour. I never get them a golden brown. What can I put in to make them darker. The cookie dough is white. Does somebody have a recipe for oats cookies?

Answer: Increase the temperature and cooking time

Question: Can you use a blender to make quarker oats into flour for bread? I have a package of quaker oats that is mostly unused. Other than putting a little bit of the oats into the loaves I bake I'm trying to find healthy ways to use the oats.

Answer: Oats make a nice addition to baked goods, but they don't really work as an exact replacement for flour in breadmaking because oats don't contain any gluten (i.e. the proteins that give bread dough its elasticity and the finished product its texture). The yeast doesn't interact with it properly and the finished product will be disappointing. You're probably better off using the oats in something like a multigrain muffin. Or you could use the oats to make a healthy granola mix, such as this one: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_17135,00.html?rsrc=search (Good stuff, btw - I have it for breakfast all the time). Happy baking!

Question: Can you make oat flour by grinding oats in a food processor? I can't find oat flour anywhere, but I do have oats.

Answer: Yes I've done it before. It worked fine.

Question: Is it ok to substitute old-fashioned oats for the quick oats in oatmeal cookies? I have a recipe that calls for quick-cooking oats but I only have the old-fashioned kind in my cabinet. Will it make a difference in my oatmeal cookies if I make the switch in my recipe?

Answer: Yes, and you may never go back to 'quick' because using rolled oats is fantastic.

Question: Can one grow a yeast culture out of oats? i know that for sourdough starter or whiskey etc. most use a flour mixture, but could one based on oats work too? do oats contain wild yeast?

Answer: Wild yeasts live just about everywhere, including the air that you breath (where most yeast starters get their yeast). I am sure that oats have plenty of yeast on them, the problem is that I am not sure just how well yeast will grow in oats. You might not grow enough yeast since the oats (either whole or rolled) are in large chunks (compared to flour), giving the yeast less food to work with. You might be better off by going half and half oats and flour, This way the yeast that you grow will be largly from the oats. But then again your idea might work. Give it a try and if it doesn't work, try the half and half.

Question: Can I substitute regular rolled oats for quick cook oats in a cookie recipe? Every oatmeal cookie recipe that I've come across calls for quick oats. What will be the outcome of my cookies if I use the regular oats instead? Is there really that much difference between the two? Other than cook time, I mean.

Answer: The quick cooking oats are thinner and break apart more easily causing recipes to be drier because of the fine oat flour. The old fashioned oats are thicker and should be added at the end of the ingredients and hand stirred into the dough to keep the oats from breaking apart. You can see the oats in this recipe vs using the quick cooking oats. I have a special container just for old fashioned oats for baking cookies with. I also add Craisins (dried cranberries) instead of raisins. Both types of oats work in your cookies but you will get less volume of oats if you use old fashioned oats due to whole grains vs thinner and powdery quick cooking.

Question: How much does a bushel of oats weigh? We can't remember how much a bushel of oats weigh. Can anyone help us out? Just oats, not rolled oats or crimped oats. We have been buying 50 pound bags of oats from a farm supply store and we were told that we could buy them cheaper at a farm co-op. They sell them by the bushel (price wise) but two bushel to a bag. My husband says that a two bushel bag is just as expensive as the 50 pound bag. But he can't remember exactly how much a bushel of oats does weigh to know for sure price wise.

Answer: A bushel is a volume measurement. Specifically, a volume bushel is the equivalent of 1.244 cubic feet (normally, a figure of 1.25 cubic feet is used). Looking at it another way, there are 4 pecks or 32 quarts in a bushel. Test weight is a measure of the weight of grain (usually expressed in pounds) per volume bushel. Each different type of grain has a standard bushel weight at a specific moisture content. These are: corn (shelled) – 56 lbs. at 15.5% moisture, soybean – 60 lbs. at 13% moisture, oats – 32 lbs. at 14% moisture, wheat – 60 lbs. at 13.5% moisture, and barley – 48 lbs. at 14.5% moisture. Given these relationships, volume calculations can be used to get a reasonable estimate of the number of bushels. Similarly, grain weight can be used to estimate bushels and is probably the most accurate method if adjusted for moisture. The question sometimes arises as to how you figure the equivalent shelled grain bushels of ear corn. In this case, a volume bushel is figured as 2.5 cubic feet. What is the relationship between grain moisture and test weight? Grain moisture and test weight are related from the standpoint that as moisture increases, test weight decreases. For example, corn at 20% moisture will have a test weight that is 2 pounds lower than the same corn dried to 15.5% moisture. It doesn’t matter whether the drying is done naturally in the field or artificially in a bin. This year’s high measured test weights may be due, in part, to the fact that corn was much drier coming off the field than is normally the case. One reason why test weight increases as grain dries is that dry kernels pack together more easily than wet ones. Additionally, as moisture decreases, the kernels shrink and this allows for more kernels to fill a volume bushel. What factors influence test weight? Test weight is most often influenced by stresses that occur during the grain-filling period of the plant. Factors that decrease the rate or duration of grain fill can result in lower test weights at harvest. These stresses can be subtle or fairly dramatic. Included among these factors are drought, excessive soil moisture, nutrient deficiencies, lack of sunlight, temperature extremes, insect damage to leaf and stem tissue, frost, and hail. There are also differences in hybrids and varieties. Although test weight may be a consideration when selecting hybrids or varieties, don’t make it the only one at the expense of other important characteristics such as yield and disease resistance.

Question: What is the quickest way to properly cook steel cut oats on the stove? 1. Bring water to a boil. 2. Add oats (water-oat ratio 4:1) 3. Wait for 30 minutes Is that a good way?

Answer: Bob's Red Mill steel cut oats seem to clock in the fastest, i find they cook up in 5 min The others are a good 10 min 1. Bring water to a boil.(add salt) 2. Add oats (water-oat ratio 3:1 ie 3 cups water 1 cup grain) 3. Wait for 10 4. pull off stove, add maple real syrup & a little milk that's what we've found all the best!

Question: Is there a reason I should not put oats in my morning cereal? I don't like oatmeal because it's slick. I eat cold cereal for breakfast and I'm wondering if I can get the benefits of oats without cooking them by adding them to my cereal. Seems like a good idea to me. I eat a combination of several heart healthy cereals (and some not so heart healthy but tasty). I think there are six different kinds of cereal that I've mixed together. It's so yummy. I also throw in wild blueberries and walnuts. Delicious and purple milk to boot!

Answer: Growing up we ate oats hot and cold. We often ate raw oates with milk and sugar like any dry cereal. Actualy pritty good. Give it a try.

Question: Roughly how long does it take to make old-fashioned rolled oats? Hello, I bought a bulk bag of rolled oats at Earth Fare for use in cookies, but now I want some good ole' breakfast. However, I have no directions on how to cook my oats. Help?

Answer: Heres what the H_Chick does with her oats! I get the big lesser processed oats - they are delicious and I like them a bit bulky. I very much go by feel. I thrwo about a cup of big arsed oats in a ceramic bowl and put 2 cups or so of water in, about 1 of milk, a tspn of salt, a sprinkle of sugar. Cook on high in the microwave for about 2 mins, take out and stir. Then cook on high in 1 minute increments - stir in between. When it is starting to thicken, take it out before it gets too thick or it will be awful after it has stood for a while. This is the part that you have to learn to gauge. When they are done, you can store your bowl in the fridge and reheat portions when needed. To make them truly sublime, I throw on the top brown sugar and butter. It is a caramelly rolled oat delight then!!

Question: Can I use instant oatmeal in place of rolled oats in a recipe? I want to make rhubarb crisp, and have no "rolled oats", but I 've got tons of instant oatmeal.

Answer: That should work just fine...as long as it isn't those packets with the flavoring.

Question: How to make my own muesli with rolled oats? Someone told me I cannot just add rolled oats to milk and eat it. They must be cooked first in some water or are difficult to digest? So are just rolled oats in some milk difficult to digest? I was thinking of adding them to some cooked oat bran for a more muesli-type breakfast. Please give me your suggestions. Thanks.

Answer: They will still have the same nutritional value if eaten raw. When cooked, they taste a little sweeter because some of the starch is converted to sugars, but if you're not prone to bloating and you have a regular bowel habit you shouldn't have a problem digesting them. What you could do is make your own muesli (one cup rolled oats, half cups of sesame seeds, mixed nuts, sunflower seeds and dried fruits with maybe a sprinkle of brown sugar and cinnamon) and soak it overnight in the fridge with a glass of apple or orange juice. Yummy!