Best Bowl of Oatmeal
I finally figured out how to make a decent bowl of oatmeal. All you need:
- 1/2 cup steel cut oats (double for more)
- 1 cup of water (double for more)
Grind the oats – I use my coffee bean grinder. Soak the oats overnight (or longer). Cook for about twenty minutes in twice as much water as the measurement of the starting oats (so 1 cup of water if you started with 1/2 cup of oats). Stir every five minutes, more toward the end.
How do you like your oatmeal? I eat this straight, but my family members like oatmeal with maple syrup. Some people like a pat of butter or a teaspoon of cinnamon in their oats.
• • •
Now I will tell you how I came about this version. A few years ago, my father decided steel cut oats would be a good to try, for nutrition reasons. We found it took about 40 minutes to cook, however, and it was still gritty. Then I was reading a book about fermenting grains, and I decided to soak mine. That helped, but they were still somewhat gritty. Finally, I read this post about a man who had healed his own cancerous tumors with a mixture of grains and seeds, including oats. He ground his first, and in the comments I found this note by Eileen Weaver: “One of the reasons this worked well was that the grains were soaked overnight, after being FRESHLY ground. The soaking activates the enzymes that would have sprouted the seeds/grains.The activated enzymes begin to convert the storage forms of protein/starch/minerals to active forms, and dramatically increase the vitamin content. All seeds, whatever form they are in are better for soaking because of this.” Eileen convinced me. I’ve been hooked ever since.
And why steel cut oats? “I would argue that cut oats are better for you simply because they are processed less than the rolled variety.”
Quick Oats, Steel Cut Oats, or Regular Oats: What’s the Difference?
Batya says
I always liked the gritty chewiness when I ate them.
kcc, please
leoraw says
Ah, if you enjoy the grittiness and you can tolerate it, why not? Enjoy. OK, and I'll send it to KCC.
Jewaicious says
I will have to try this. I like the history behind your trying the oats
leoraw says
I hope you enjoy it, too. It seems one can grind in other grains or seeds as well - I'm not quite ready for that yet, but I have it in mind. I've heard that flax seeds can go rancid fast, so I stay away from those.
felisol says
Leora, How you always make me think in new, or rather different ways. While reading your post I clearly remember how my mother had to soak green and yellow peas,rice and oats back in the fifties when I grew up. (Norway in the fifties would be like America in the thirties.)
We still eat oatmeal porridge or soup in intervals. We like it, it's tasty and nutritious, but our stomachs find it hard to digest.
I just recently bought an electric coffee bean grinder Now I will try to find a shop where I can purchase steel cut oat.
I shall be so happy if this helps us eat what we'd like to have.
Gunnar like some butter on the top of his. I've learned to put some home made red currant juice in it for soup, and just a few grains of salt. Some salt into the sweet and some sweet into the salt dishes is my mothers recipe.
P.S. In Norwegian hospitals they still serve cold oat soup as a last meal about 9 a.m. My mother cooked lots of oat soup for me while I was breast feeding. It's supposed to help producing more milk.
(My Dad used to tell how he was hospitalized during the war (WW2) for a serious ear infection. They placed warm oat porridge packed in some gas over his swollen ear to drag out the bacteria,and it worked.)
I shall have to go to our special health shop to buy oat today.
leoraw says
More and more people seem to be having difficulty with digesting grains in general. I don't know why. I wonder if grinding and soaking will help.
Ilana-Davita says
I had to cheek what steel cut oats are! Do you think the good effects would be lost with regular oats? I'd still soak them overnight though. Another question comes to mind? Would things be different if the oats were soaked in milk?
leoraw says
I'm not a big fan of milk in general (though if you are getting raw milk straight from the cow, that seems to beneficial to some), but in particular, the link that says soaking grains has a video. She suggests staying away from using dairy with grains. The soaking helps remove the phytic acid. The dairy inhibits the removal of the phytic acid.
Oh, I just found another link, one on phytic acid:
http://www.westonaprice.org/food-features/living-with-phytic-acid
Michelle says
Interesting as my daughter sent her Dad some steel oats oatmeal because he is such an oatmeal fan and they do take some time to cook, but they are nothing like regular oats and I actually like it..I am going to try your way Leora...
Laura says
Very interesting . . . I have to get some steel cut oats and try it. I like oatmeal best with butter and salt, no sugar.
Maureen says
Where can you buy steelcut oats in Central NJ?
leoraw says
Good question. Probably at Green Topia in Highland Park, corner of Raritan Avenue and North Fourth. And did you hear that a Whole Foods store is opening in Metuchen?
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