June 25, 2021 - 5:56pm
Good quality oats
I am looking to buy oat "groats" that aren't meant for animal feed and preferably aren't loading with agricultural pesticides and herbicides.
I don't need a 50lb sack but, I also can't afford the super expensive organic specialty packages that are 20~50 cents per ounce either.
I am looking to roll my own for breakfast oatmeal and soups mainly. Ideally, I can get barley from the same source but, that is secondary.
Where should I be looking to find oats today?
Thanks,
Sid
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If you are in the Midwest, Country Life Natural Foods has what you want. Oats and barley $1/lb. for 5 lbs., less for 25 lb. pkg. Shipping is reasonable. They have LOTS of other grains and flours, organic and regular alike. I buy thick rolled oats and other baking supplies from them. I like the oats.
https://www.clnf.org/grains
I buy from Country Life and have always been satisfied with service and quality. I love Scottish stone ground oats as a hot cereal. I start by lightly toasting the oat groats on the stove until they're fragrant then run them through a Mockmill set to a very coarse grind. Then they're stirred into three times their volume of boiling water (a pinch of salt if you want it) and the stirring continues for 20 minutes. Yeah, a little bit labor intensive but they're flavor intensive so it's an even trade.
George, I wonder if my oat meal will taste better if the Oat Groats are toasted before they are flaked. I like the idea and plan to give it a try.
Thanks,
Danny
Background: Power outages were sometimes problematic for us where we lived 20+ years ago. With several remodeling projects we have been doing the last 2 months, lately I have resorted to something I learned back then. I cook my oat groats in a thermos.
It's the easiest thing, best started after dinner. I preheat our 24 oz wide mouth thermos with some boiling water for bit (?15 min?). I measure out a cup of groats and add a pinch of salt. Once the thermos is hot, pour off the water, add the groats (a wide funnel helps), and fill to the top with boiling water. Put the lid and "cup" on, lay it on its side, and shake it back and forth a bit. That helps disperse the water/grain more evenly. I lay it on an oven mitt and stick it in the microwave in winter. Boom, done. Breakfast is ready in the morning. You can do this with any grain, though the water/grain proportions may vary a bit.
I tried doing it in a smaller metal thermos, but it didn't work well. It seems to lose too much heat before the grain gets cooked. And wide mouth is important for getting things out when done. I tried a narrow mouth one once. Once was enough for that lesson, lol.
Google thermos cooking sometime, there are a variety of websites out there. Some are preppers (we are not), another is from someone who lives on a boat and likes saving propane.
I might try toasting some groats and see how those turn out, it sounds tasty.
Mary
Danny, my only caveat, and it's not based on experience, is the moisture content of the groats after toasting. I'm wondering if they might be too 'fragile' and shatter instead of flaking? That's not a consideration when I mill them coarsely. What the heck? Give it a shot.
George
Sid, these are $0.18 per ounce. But they are excellent for rolling for oat meal. Not cheap, but they are excellent. I have used other oats that are not nearly as good. These oats are super creamy and their taste is second to none that I know of. They are worth a try.
You can buy in small quantities for freshness and shipping is free with Amazon Prime. $2.95 a pound in lots of 2.2 pounds.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07TYZK623/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Haven’t tried their Barley.
https://www.amazon.com/Yupik-Flakes-Organic-Barley-2-2/dp/B07TTNCQ5L?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1&psc=1