Oat Groats

Thank you for your lovely comments yesterday. There has been some interest in the oat roller.

So what is an oat roller and why use one?  Well, all grains start to go rancid as soon as they are processed, which alters the flavour and nutritional value. So being able to use freshly processed grains is a bonus. Oat groats (kernels) are the whole grain with only the hard outer husk removed. The oat groats can be used whole as a substitute for rice or added to soup. They can be cooked into a porridge or eaten whole in salads. To shorten the cooking time they can be rolled and then cooked for porridge. I roll them first thing in the morning, add a pinch of salt and cover them with water. I bring them to the boil, stirring constantly. Then I turn it off until we get back from our morning chores. It is then reheated with a little milk added as well as some dried fruit and then it's ready. The rolling can be done the night before and the oats soaked in water ready for the morning, to make the process quicker. The rolled oats can also be eaten raw in muesli.

Friends of ours have been doing this for years. I've often heard how much better the oats taste, but of course there are just so many things going on around here that it always just sat there in the back of my mind, often talked about, you know, "one of theses days". Well that day arrived. The friend mentioned,was off to Austria to visit family, and I took the opportunity to ask her to pick me up a roller while she was there. It is called a 'Schnitzer'. They are available in Australia through Skippy Grain Mills for around $200.

The oats roll so easily. It is just takes a minute. One of the best things I've bought and such a nice thing for children to do, I think.