Oat Varieties and How They Are Produced

Tuesday 11 May 2010

Briefing Paper

Including oats in the diet is a great way of promoting a healthy lifestyle as they are a wholegrain food providing nutrients such as beta-glucans (a soluble fibre), B vitamins and antioxidants.

In order to retain the valuable nutrients in oats, producers set out to preserve as much of the oat grain as possible during the milling process.

The mill is designed to take out straw, other grains and seeds and to also remove the outer shell (known as the hull) of the oat grain. The hull is about 28% of the grain. The oat grains that remain (also known as kernels) are then fed through a kiln for several hours. The kiln steams, heats and then cools the kernels, to stabilize the enzyme activity, lower the moisture content and develop the flavour.

These kernels then form the basis of all oat products and are used to make the following:

Jumbo Flakes

Jumbo flakes are whole oat kernels, softened with steam and then passed between rolls to produce flakes around 0.6-0.8mm thick. Jumbo flakes tend to be used to make muesli and thick porridge.

Rolled Oats

Rolled oats are kernels that have been cut into two or three pieces before being steamed and rolled as above but to a thickness between 0.3-0.5mm. Rolled oats tend to be used to make porridge, including the single serve sachet products found in supermarkets. A mix of jumbo and rolled oats is sometimes used in biscuit making or for cereal bars.

Oatmeal

Oatmeal is kernels that have been broken up using grooved rolls which can be varied to produce a medium or fine oatmeal. Traditionally just oatmeal was used to make porridge, until about 100 years ago when rolled oats were introduced. Oatmeal takes longer to cook and usually has a much thicker texture compared to rolled oats.

Pinhead Oats

Pinhead oats are kernels that have been just cut into two or three pieces to produce a rough oatmeal. As above, this rough oatmeal is used as a traditional way of making porridge and can also be used to make oatcakes.

Oat Flour

Oat flour is made by feeding the kernels (and/or flakes as above) into a grinder and then over a series of sieves, which send oversized particles back to the grinder until the correct size is achieved. As with oatmeal the flour can be course, medium or fine and can be used to make bread or cakes.

Oat flour is also the basis of the extrusion process to make light and crispy oat products, which are often then coated with a flavouring.

Ends

Written by Colin Brown of Ops and Technical Services & member of The Scottish Oat Group

For oat recipes, images & information, visit www.allaboutoats.com or contact:

David Gough                                                   Donna Neary

Ceres                                                                HGCA 

Tel: 0118 947 5956                                         Tel: 024 7647 8734    

E : david.gough@ceres-pr.co.uk                   E : donna.neary@hgca.com