I have been using quaker oats in my recipes, so now I found out that oat groats are the whole version…. I have been enjoying topping them on yogurts and salads, so I decided to make a raw oatmeal. I soaked them overnight, blended them up, and when I tasted it, I could have sworn someone was trying to poison me. It was toxic! It was awful and bitter-tasting!
SO, I thought it might be that I didn’t rinse it well enough, so I tried blending up more groats without soaking them, and was sure they’d taste ok, since they smelled fine. I took a bite, and it was still the same poisonous crap! Well, I gave that up. But, why did they taste perfectly fine when I ate a little amount with other foods, yet, when I blended them up, it was nasty? Are my taste buds just not used to it, or is it really not good for me?
Comments
how odd, I eat oat groats almost every day for breakfast, but I eat the steel cut oats, which are raw groats that are cut into small pieces. Maybe the whole groats have some sort of skin on them that tastes bad? Why don’t you try steel cut oats, I find them very tasty (though not as sweet as rolled oats) and they’re pretty soft after only a 1/2 hour soak.
I eat steel cut oats, too, by Hodgson Mills. NOT Quaker Oats, blech. Steel cut oats taste wayyy better.
You’re welcome! Just make sure you don’t order “oat groats” but order the oats for sprouting instead. :)
Ok, I am confused. I have been told that quaker oats/rolled oats are not raw, that they get staemed or something. tHE SAME THING FOR STEEL CUT, ALTHOUGH i HAVE HEARD ABOUT RAW STEEL CUT SOMETIMES. i AM JUST WONDERING IF WHAT i HAVE BEEN TOLD IS CORRECT. Thank you, Kat
Oops, caps lock button a little crazy there!
Oat groats are not raw, even though they’re usually labeled that way. Neither are steel cut or rolled oats, unless you buy them from a specialty raw food website. www.alissacohen.com sells raw rolled oats, so maybe she sells the steel-cut ones, too. For raw whole oats, go to www.sunorganic.com and order the oats for sprouting, not oat groats. As for the bitter taste, I used to eat oat groats (before finding out they’re not raw), and I don’t remember any bitterness, but then it’s been a long time.
i take whole raw oat groats and soak them in warm water in a thermos or glass tuberware overnight. eventhough still tough. they are edible. if you want them really nice then soak them for 3 days. i have a oat groat recipe posted.
thanks angie for the oat groat supplier.
if oat grouts arnt raw then why do they sprout? ive never had them before but people sprout them, soo.....~~~~
miss souffle~ you would need to purchase the ones specifically labeled for sprouting. Most, if not all, others have been heat treated to extend shelf life. They can go rancid easily otherwise, from what I've read. Which, by the way, *might* be the bitterness that Rawsiki experienced. Maybe Rawsiki's really were raw, and went rancid. Maybe. Just a guess.
http://www.sproutpeople.com/seed/oats.html HULLESS OATS are the only sproutable oats .When oats are steel cut or oat groats...they are either steamed or heated in the process. Removing the hull, usually breaks them, which in essence kills them...and they will not sprout.
Hulless are grown this way without hulls...they require little soaking time. (30 -60 min)-and then can sprout. Someone mentioned soaking oats for 3 days. I'd be a little concerned about that..they get moldy quite quickly with all that moisture.
Barbara (aka- Rawfully Tempting)
How do I tell in the store if the oat groats are rancid or not. I've bought some soaked overnight and made into raw porridge the next morning and they were bitter. Really disappointing.
perhaps your groats went rancid?
Definitely try thoroughly rinsing the oats after soaking is finished to see if that makes a difference. I'm not sure about oats, but with nuts and seeds you have to rinse after soaking to get rid of the digestive inhibitors that have leached into the water.
(overnight soaking is adequate)
(the bran is where rancidity comes from over time)
I soaked my Bob Red Mills organic oat groats for about 24 hours, rinsed thoroughly, and just ate them with honey. Chewy and delicious.
You may have raw oats, not oat groats, which are slightly processed. Raw oats my start to germinate, but oat groats will not. Her is an insert from wikipedia that may help explain.
Kilning
The unsized oat groats pass through a heat and moisture treatment to balance moisture, but mainly to stabilize them. Oat groats are high in fat (lipids) and once removed from their protective hulls and exposed to air, enzymatic (lipase) activity begins to break down the fat into free fatty acids, ultimately causing an off-flavour or rancidity. Oats begin to show signs of enzymatic rancidity within four days of being dehulled if not stabilized. This process is primarily done in food-grade plants, not in feed-grade plants. Groats are not considered raw if they have gone through this process; the heat disrupts the germ and they cannot sprout.
Hope this helps.