Oatmeal/Porridge

[2big4mysize]

Re: Oatmeal/Porridge

all of those terms are in his BBC link Megs
pin head is Scotch
fine is instant
and medium is standard rolled oats

[not2late]

Re: Oatmeal/Porridge

all of those terms are in his BBC link Megs
pin head is Scotch
fine is instant
and medium is standard rolled oats

The porridge thickens because this is what I found in another BBC page



http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A4888858

Oat Groats

This is the whole oat grain, with only the hard, unpalatable outer husk removed. Usually pale yellow in colour, they are long and thin with a smooth shiny surface, and look not unlike brown rice. They still have their entire bran coat, also like brown rice. Heck, they even taste a little like brown rice! Like other cereal grains they can be boiled and eaten, but if you've ever tried eating whole oats you'll understand why they are more commonly used after having been processed into one of the forms described below.

Pinhead Oats

Also known as steel-cut oats, and sometimes referred to as coarse, or rough oatmeal, pinhead oats are made by passing whole oat grains through steel cutters which chop each one into three or four pieces. Since they still contain the whole grain including the oat bran, pinhead oats are very nutritious. They also make by far the best porridge of all the different types of oats.

Rolled Oats

These come in two distinct varieties - jumbo and regular. Jumbo oats are made by first steaming the whole grain for a few minutes, thus partially cooking it, then passing it between rollers to flatten it out. They can be eaten raw in muesli, or used to make a coarse porridge.

Regular rolled oats are made by putting pinhead oatmeal through the same process. They cook more quickly and make a finer porridge, and can also be used in oat biscuits, flapjacks, and parkin, as well as a topping on brown bread.

Instant Oats

If pinhead oatmeal is cooked for longer and rolled even more thinly, it produces the kind of oats used for making some types of 'instant' porridge. Since, generally speaking, the more you process a food the less nutritious it becomes, instant oats are best avoided if you want to get the full benefit of this grain.

Oatmeal

Like most other grains, oats can be ground to produce flour, and this usually comes in three grades - coarse (see above - Pinhead Oats), medium and fine. Medium oatmeal1 can be used in biscuits, scones and crumble toppings to give a nutty flavour, and can be added to soups for a thicker, creamier result. Fine oatmeal is the main ingredient in Scottish bannocks and oatcakes, which are traditionally cooked on a bakestone - a slab of slate or iron, which is set over a brick-built hearth. Today they're more likely to be cooked on an iron griddle.

A cookbook I have by Catherine Brown, a Scottish food historian/writer, says that the grades --fine, medium, pin-head -- are based on how fine the milling process is.

Cooks thesarus has images of them and their synonyms.
http://www.foodsubs.com/GrainOats.html

Wilkipedia has a page dedicated to the oatmeal controversy, lol
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Oatmeal

As for the difference between Irish and Scottish oatmeal, this seems to be a marketing difference to me. In Scotland some oatmeal is stone ground and some is steel ground but the result is pretty similar. In both cases the machinery can be set to create big pieces (coarse), medium pieces (pinhead), or tiny pieces (fine ground). I would imagine that the same is true in Ireland.

Perhaps then it depends on the nationality of the person categorizing the oatmeal? The wilkipedia stie is a dialogue about what is oatmeal and what is pooridge. It looks like in the UK (or at least in Scotland) oatmeal is ground up oats. Porridge is the dish made by cooking the oatmeal in liquid. Oatmeal in North America is porridge.

[2big4mysize]

Re: Oatmeal/Porridge

we had oat groats on a camping trip in Scouts once and I still say the back to nature folk took it too far with those things Bleak!

so Megs is your next day oatmeal thicker then the first day? I was thinking about those oat drawers in those articles and why it would continue to thinken

[not2late]

Re: Oatmeal/Porridge

Next day porridge is thicker. In fact, when I was still experimenting with the amounts of water to oats, I had porridges that were too runny, while hot. But even as the serving cooled in my bowl, it thickened slightly.

Frankly, this soaking and the ability to microwave it is pretty convenient. Friday, I'll have to be at work early, so I'll probably put the soaking oatmeal into a tupperware-like container and bring it with me. Then I'll just nuke it in the office microwave..

[Honeyville]

Re: Oatmeal/Porridge

Hey everyone. Steel Cut Oats (or Pinhead Oats, or Scotch Oats, or Irish Oats) are way more nutritious than regular rolled or instand rolled oats. They take a bit longer to prepare but yield a more hearty, porridge style breakfast that certainly stays with you. One 43 gram serving of Steel Cut Oats contains 3 grams of fat, 6 grams of protein and 29 grams of carbs (5g of which is dietary fiber). Oprah did a piece on how she eats Steel Cut Oats as part of her diet and caused a spike in demand that ran several huge companies right out of oats. That lady sure does have a loyal following. Sorry for the tangent, but I just had to share.

PS. Glad to see a familiar face 2big. How are you?

[not2late]

Re: Oatmeal/Porridge

Tangent? Nah...you wanna tangent? I was in an Asian supermarket over the weekend and I saw rolled barley (flattened). They were either a Korean or Japanese product. I also noted they were selling two types of barley: barley and something labelled as "sweet barley". My guess is that "Sweet barley" like "sweet rice" is more sticky when you cook it????

[Honeyville]

Re: Oatmeal/Porridge

I guess that's the fun of these types of forums. Tangents just get the threads going in all sorts of fun directions. Can't say I've ever heard of sweet barley before.

[2big4mysize]

Re: Oatmeal/Porridge

Nice to see you again Chris. Yep Oprah can say eat or don't eat as the beef guys found out and poof market demands change.

Barely is great for lowering cholesterol too as it has both the glutens and the acids Oatmeal has

was the sweet barely sprouted as sproted barely is high in sugar

[not2late]

Re: Oatmeal/Porridge

Nope the sweet barley wasn't sprouted. It was in the dried bean/grains section along with barley. The rolled barley looked interesting because it looked similar to the old-fashioned rolled oats. But the product labeled "sweet barley" was side-by-side with "barley". Both products were whole barley, both by the same manufacturer.

Lots of interesting things in ethnic markets---I can happily spend the whole day there just reading packages and looking at the different foods.

Editing to add...
Cook's Thesarus has pics of the barley I saw. Hato mugi is the flattened barley and hulled barley is how the "sweet barley" and "regular" barley looked like.
http://www.foodsubs.com/GrainBarley.html

[used2b]

Re: Oatmeal/Porridge

harriet i just wanted to tell you that we are both about the same weight and have the same goal - 65 kilos......... I'm at the end of my first month tomorrow with the odd little weekend slips...which I make sure are rectified come Monday!!!! But am losing and now, at last am not just seeing my legs as being much better but other parts , it's happening , I love this Atkin's dieting or wol!!!

On the porridge issue , I have Scotts porride , a huge box a friend of mine gave me, as I live in Spain, but I'm not having it (SoB!!) till I've reached a certain weight loss and that may be some time still, am on prolonged induction....

ok well good luck to yourself and all you others, and love reading your tips etc.........

[used2b]

Re: Oatmeal/Porridge

oh sorry meant to ask HEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLP I WANT SB. TO TELL ME (HAVE ALREADY ASKED A VERY NICE PERSON TODAY THIS SAME QUESTION) HOW AND WHERE TO STICK MY TICKERTAPE THING - SHE TOLD ME TO CUT AND PASTE IT ON TO MY SIGNATURE COS IT WORKED FOR HER , ANYWAY BUT I'M HAVE TROUBLE WITH THIS!!

ANY1 ELSE EXPLAIN HOW I CAN GET MY TICKER PROGRESS TAPE THING????
THANKS,
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK ALL OF YOU AND NIL DESPERANDUM TO THE REST OF YOU WHO ARE STRUGGLING, OK?

[Noorian]

Re: Oatmeal/Porridge

I did not know oats were allowed in any phases of atkins diet?????

I guess i shall be alright to eat oats once I go OWL???????????

hmmm interesting........ How you miss these little points when reading the book and have a Ahaa moment going through this forumn..

[Elizellen]

Re: Oatmeal/Porridge

I did not know oats were allowed in any phases of atkins diet?????

I guess i shall be alright to eat oats once I go OWL???????????.

Yes - oats are allowed on the grains rung of OWL

Megs, your recipe for oatcakes/bannocks didnt mention a quantity of oats - was it one tablespoon or more of (I assume) rolled/milled oats?

I am on the grains rung and looking for ways to use grains in small quantities other than just making loaves of bread! Cant stand porridge though!!

[not2late]

Re: Oatmeal/Porridge

The bannock recipe called for 2 ounces of oats (fine, medium, or pinhead). It is from a Scottish cookbook and I think the measurements got lost in the translation because I weighed the 2 ounces and it was almost 1 cup. That didn't jive with the amount of liquid the recipe called for (1-2 tablespoons water and 1 tablespoon bacon fat or melted butter). So I'm assuming the 2 ounces is a volumetric measurement: 1/4 cup.

The closest we have to fine oatmeal here in the US is oat flour. I didn't like the bannock made solely with oat flour because it didn't have enough texture. So I used a 1 : 3 mixture of Scottish oatmeal (I guess that would be medium oatmeal in the UK) to fine oatmeal. The grittiness of the Scottish oatmeal made it easier to roll and gave it some texture.

[Elizellen]

Re: Oatmeal/Porridge

Thanks Megs.
I made the recipe with 2 (weight) ounces of ground oatflakes and found it too dry to make into 'cakes' (as you suggested) so added another fluid ounce of hot water and it made a good 'shaping' consistency.
I didnt have sodium bicarb so used baking soda instead - I am not really sure what is the difference
They were tasty eaten hot with just butter on top but were a bit dry. I cant remember what oatcakes are supposed to feel like on the tongue, as I havent had them for years now but think I will make these again.
I might try them with some sweetener added too some time.