Tag Archives: oatmeal

Nov 27

A grueling regimen

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Several years ago, Alton Brown did a “Good Eats” episode about oatmeal, and extolled the virtues of steel-cut or “pinhead” oats. At the time, I couldn’t find them anywhere in Shelbyville. At one point, a Quaker version of the steel-cut oats appeared in one of our local stores, but then it disappeared. Then, a year ago, I discovered McCann’s, first in a canister and then in a box. Now, perhaps in response to the McCann’s product, the Quaker steel-cut oats are back on the shelves here as well. I bought a canister last week.

I probably need to eat these more often than I do.

Oat grains, in order to be cooked to an edible consistency in a reasonable amount of time, have to be broken down in some way. The Quaker oats of your youth, and the instant oatmeal packets you might enjoy, are made from rolled oats – the oat grains are flattened between metal rollers.

Steel-cut oats, instead of being flattened, are cut up into smaller pieces. The result is similar to traditional oats in flavor but has a much more substantial, chewy texture, as opposed to the mushy texture of rolled oats.

The trouble is that traditional steel-cut oats, like the Quaker product, take longer to cook. McCann’s has a quicker-cooking version. I did find online that the traditional steel-cut oats can be made in a rice cooker, which is convenient if not quick.

Alton has a recipe for cooking steel-cut oats overnight in a slow-cooker, although it does me no good because it makes four servings, and cutting the recipe down probably wouldn’t work right in the slow-cooker.

If you like oatmeal, but you’ve never tried steel-cut oats, you need to. Try the quick-cooking version, or get the traditional version and make it overnight or on the weekend or a day off work.
Feb 24

Irish oatmeal

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Did you see this New York Times blog post about the new oatmeal at McDonald’s?

Incredibly, the McDonald’s product contains more sugar than a Snickers bar and only 10 fewer calories than a McDonald’s cheeseburger or Egg McMuffin. (Even without the brown sugar it has more calories than a McDonald’s hamburger.)

I’m sorry to read this – I only had it once, but I liked it, and figured it was a healthy alternative.

Anyway, in much better oatmeal news, I posted a month ago about McCann’s quick-cooking version of steel-cut oats. I found it in canister form at one of our local stores. I can’t remember which one, and I immediately heard from others here in the county who’d looked for steel-cut oats to no avail.

The canister was almost empty, and I was at Walmart today, so I looked. I found the exact same product, McCann’s Quick & Easy Steel Cut Irish Oatmeal, only in a 16-ounce box rather than the 24-ounce canister. (I bought a box and used it to refill my canister.) There are none of the chemicals that the NYT says are in the McDonald’s oatmeal; the box lists only one ingredient, 100% whole grain irish oats.

You can microwave the oats, but be sure and use a very deep bowl. I microwaved some of the oats at work this morning and it boiled over two different times, all over the microwave carousel.

I also bought a bag of some dried mixed berries; tomorrow, I’ll try adding them to the oatmeal as it cooks.

Roger Ebert is apparently a fan of McCann’s original, slow-cooking product, which can be cooked in Ebert’s beloved rice cooker.

Jan 15

Oat cuisine

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QandE_DrumThe oatmeal that most of us grew up with, whether from instant oatmeal packets or that cardboard canister, is made from rolled oats – oat grains which have been flattened by rollers.

When I first saw Alton Brown on “Good Eats” extolling the virtues of steel-cut, also known as “pinhead” oats, I couldn’t find them anywhere in Shelbyville.

Steel-cut oats are made from the exact same grain, but instead of being flattened they’re cut into tiny pieces. That gives the cooked product a different, heartier texture, which some people, including Alton, prefer.

At one point, local stores started carrying Quaker’s version of the steel-cut oats. I tried them, and liked them, but there was a problem – the long cooking time made it nearly impossible for me to make the product on a normal weekday morning. Eventually, the Quaker product vanished from local stores.

So then, this week, I found McCann’s quick-cooking steel-cut oats on the shelves. They have a much-shorter cooking time, including microwave directions. I had some just now, cooked on the stove, adding raisins, a little real maple syrup and a splash of cream. The texture isn’t exactly the same as the long-cooking product, but it’s still got that hearty, nutty texture different from the mushy rolled oats.

I give it a thumbs-up.

Dec 30

Oats, overnight

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When Alton Brown first did an episode of “Good Eats” about oatmeal, I couldn’t find the kind that he recommends — steel-cut or “pinhead” oats — in our local stores. But I saw them here a week or two ago and tried them. They’re good; they do have a meatier, chewier texture than regular rolled oats. But they take a while to cook, and I don’t have time to cook on weekday mornings, especially since the acting editor’s job requires me to be at the office by 6 a.m. The two times I’ve made them before now were on weekends.

So tonight I’m trying one of Alton’s recipes from that episode: overnight oatmeal, which cooks in the Crock Pot overnight. Instead of the dried cranberries and figs Alton calls for, I’m trying dried blueberries. (I love blueberries.)

Tomorrow morning, I can scoop out one serving of the stuff and take it to work with me. The recipe makes more than I need for one breakfast, but if it turns out well I may be able to refrigerate the excess. We’ll try it and see.