Oats are the little black dress of the grain world, shifting from day (granola bars) to overnight (muesli) and seeing us through various phases—our current steel-cut oatmeal obsession, our oat-bran muffin past.
And like a little black dress, oats can take on different personalities based on how they're styled. Cassidy Stockton from Bob’s Red Mill, the Oregon-based grain and flour purveyor, filled us in on the different forms of oats sold at markets and how to cook with them.
Know your oats
What we call oats are actually oat groats, whole oat kernels without the inedible outer hull. They’re toasted, which makes them shelf-stable, and then processed into the following:
Rolled or old-fashioned oats. Oats that have been steamed and flattened with a roller into large, thick flakes. The go-to for most of your baking/bowl-eating needs.
Quick-cooking oats. Rolled thinner, these require less than half the cooking time of rolled oats.
Instant oats. The thinnest, smallest flakes. True to their name, they just need boiling water and they’re done.
Steel-cut or Irish or pinhead oats. These groats aren’t steamed first; they're chopped into pieces with a steel burr mill so they have a lot of texture and bite when cooked. Though there are quick-cooking varieties, traditional steel-cut oats take up to 30 minutes on the stove.
Scottish oats. Not a common find here (Bob’s Red Mill is one of the few U.S. purveyors), these are whole groats ground on stone mills. They have a coarse, sandy texture similar to cornmeal and cook up into a thin, creamy porridge.
Oat bran. This is the fiber-rich layer of the oat kernel. In baking, oat bran adds heft and a nutty flavor. Cooked on its own, it’s Cream of Wheat–like.
Oat flour. Oats taken one step further in processing and ground all the way down into flour. You can do this at home using rolled oats and a food processor.
The next big thing?
Whole groats aren’t as widely available as other forms of oats, but if you do find them, treat them as you would farro or another similar grain—as a savory, hearty addition to salads or soups, or a side dish all on their own. They’re chewy and substantial and take about an hour to cook.
“They’re kind of a missed opportunity,” says Stockton. “So many people think of oats just for baking and breakfast.”
Storing oats
Keep all your oats in airtight containers in a dry, cool pantry so they don’t go rancid.
"Any whole grains are better off stored that way,” Stockton says.
But if you’re not cooking through your supply at a regular pace—and you have the room—it’s better to store them in the refrigerator or freezer. Containers or resealable freezer bags are fine, so long as the seal stays shut.
“Bob,” as in Bob Moore, founder of Bob’s Red Mill and Stockton’s boss, “always tells us to keep them in the freezer,” Stockton says.
The shelf life of oats and oat flour kept in the pantry is about 18 months. In the fridge or freezer, they’ll keep indefinitely. Like any good little black dress.
