Oatmeal

In this episode of the I Can't Sleep Podcast, fall asleep learning about oatmeal. You know, the mushy substance you eat for breakfast. It's great with berries and other random foods. Even better, learning about it is sure to put you to sleep. Happy listening!

Transcript

Welcome to the I Can't Sleep podcast,

Where I read random articles from across the web to bore you to sleep with my soothing voice.

I'm your host,

Benjamin Bostor.

This episode is from a Wikipedia article titled Oatmeal.

Oatmeal refers to a preparation of oats that have been dehusked,

Steamed,

And flattened,

Or else a coarse flour made of whole-oat grains,

Groats,

That have either been milled,

Ground,

Or steel cut.

Rolled oats are also called white oats.

Steel cut oats are known as coarse oatmeal,

Irish oatmeal,

Or pinhead oats.

Rolled oats were traditionally thick,

Old-fashioned oats,

But can be made thinner or smaller,

And may be categorized as quick or instant,

Depending on the cooking time,

Which is shortened by the size of the oats and pre-cooking.

The term oatmeal is used to describe a common oat porridge made from ground,

Steel cut,

Or rolled oats.

Some commercial packages display other ingredients,

Such as sugar,

Salt,

Flavorings,

Thickeners,

Vitamins,

Or minerals,

While highlighting quick,

Instant cooking and separately packaged individual portions for convenience.

Industrial Preparation and Varieties The oat grains are dehusked by impact,

And are then heated and cooled to stabilize the oat groats,

The seed inside the husk.

The process of heating produces a nutty flavor in the oats.

These oat groats may be milled to produce fine,

Medium,

Or coarse oatmeal.

Steel cut oats may be small and contain broken groats from the dehusking process.

These bits may be steamed and flattened to produce smaller rolled oats.

Rolled oats are steamed and flattened whole oat groats.

Old-fashioned oats can be thick and take a while to boil to make porridge.

Quick cooking rolled oats,

Quick oats,

Are cut into small pieces before being steamed and rolled.

Instant oatmeal is cooked and dried,

Often with a sweetener such as sugar and flavorings added.

Food Uses Both types of rolled oats may be eaten uncooked,

As in muesli,

Or may be cooked with water or milk to make porridge.

In some countries,

Rolled oats are eaten raw or toasted with milk and sugar,

Sometimes with raisins added like a basic muesli.

The term oatmeal sometimes refers to a porridge made from the bran or fibrous husk,

As well as the oat kernel or groat.

Rolled oats are often used as a key ingredient in granola breakfast cereals,

In which toasted oats are blended with sugar and or nuts and raisins and granola bars.

Rolled oats are also used as an ingredient in oatmeal cookies,

Oat cakes,

British flapjack bars,

And baked oatmeal dessert dishes such as apple brown betty and apple crisp.

Oats may also be added to foods as an accent,

As in the topping on many oat bran breads,

And as the coating on kabak cheese.

Oatmeal is also used as a thickening agent in thick,

Savory Arabic or Egyptian meat and vegetable soups,

And sometimes as a way of adding relatively low cost fiber and nutritional content to meatloaf.

One Unenriched oatmeal cooked by boiling or microwave is 84% water and contains 12% carbohydrates,

Including 2% dietary fiber and 2% each of protein and fat.

In a 100 gram amount,

Cooked oatmeal provides 71 calories and contains 29% of the daily value,

Or manganese and moderate content of phosphorus and zinc,

With no other micronutrients in significant quantity.

Health Effects Oatmeal and other oat products were the subject of a 1997 ruling by the Food and Drug Administration that consuming oat bran or whole rolled oats can lower the risk of heart disease when combined with the low-fat diet via the effect of oat beta-gluten to reduce levels of blood cholesterol.

A similar conclusion was reached in 2010 by the European Food Safety Authority.

Regional Variations United States In the United States,

Oatmeal is often served as a porridge with milk or cream and a sweetener such as brown sugar or honey.

It may include additional ingredients such as peanut butter,

Cinnamon,

Or various types of fruits.

Scotland Oatmeal has a long history in Scottish culinary tradition because oats are better suited than wheat to the country's low temperatures and high humidity.

As a result,

Oats became the staple grain of Scotland.

The ancient universities of Scotland had a holiday called Meal Monday to permit students to return to their farms and collect more oats for food.

Samuel Johnson referred disparagingly to this in his dictionary definition for oats.

A grain,

Which in England is generally given to horses,

But in Scotland supports the people.

His biographer James Boswell noted that Lord Ellibank was said by Sir Walter Scott to have retorted,

Yes,

And where else will you see such horses and such men?

In Scotland,

Oatmeal is created by grinding oats into a coarse powder.

It may be ground fine,

Medium,

Or coarse,

Or rolled,

Or the groats may be chopped in two or three pieces to make what is described as pinhead oatmeal.

Ground oatmeal,

Rolled oats,

And pinhead oatmeal are all used throughout Britain.

One Scots manufacturer describes varieties as Scottish porridge oats,

Rolled,

Scottish oatmeal,

Medium ground,

And pinhead oatmeal.

The main uses are traditional porridge,

Bros,

A thick mixture made with uncooked oatmeal or medium oatmeal that has been dry toasted by stirring it around in a dry pot over heat until it turns a slightly darker shade and emits a sweet nutty fragrance,

And then adding butter or cream.

Quick cooking rolled oats,

Distinct from instant variations,

Are often used for this purpose nowadays because they are quicker to prepare.

Gruel,

Made by mixing oatmeal with cold water that is strained and heated for the benefit of infants and people recovering from illness,

As an ingredient in baking,

In the manufacture of bannocks or oatcakes,

As a stuffing for poultry,

As a coating for Quebec cheese,

As the main ingredient of the Scottish dish scurly or its chip shop counterpart,

The deep fried thickly battered mealy pudding.

Mixed with sheep's blood,

Salt,

And pepper to make Highland black pudding.

Mixed with fat,

Water,

Onions,

And seasoning,

And boiled in a sheep's intestine to make Marag Giel,

Outer Hebridean white pudding.

Served sliced with fried eggs at breakfast.

A sweet version with dried fruit is also known.

As a major component of haggis,

In sawans,

Not strictly made from the meal but as a porridge-like dish made from the fermented inner husks of oats.

Staffordshire Staffordshire oatcakes are a local component of the full English breakfast.

It is a plate-sized pancake made with medium oatmeal and wheatmeal flour along with yeast.

Once the mixture has risen it is ladled onto a griddle or bake stone and dried through.

Staffordshire oatcakes are commonly paired with bacon,

Sausages,

Mushrooms,

Kidney,

And baked beans among others.

A related oatcake is sometimes found in neighboring Derbyshire.

Nordic Countries,

The Baltics,

And Russia Throughout the Nordic,

Baltic regions,

And Russia,

Oatmeal porridge made from rolled oats and water or milk is a traditional breakfast staple.

None under various local names meaning oat porridge,

Oat flake porridge,

Or oatmeal porridge.

It is normally made either savory or sweet by adding salt or sugar.

And it is often eaten with added nuts,

Raisins,

Or dried fruits,

As well as spices,

Most commonly cinnamon.

Oatmeal porridge has a long tradition in these regions,

But during the Middle Ages,

Porridge made from rye or barley was even more common in at least some parts of the area.

Rolled Oats Rolled oats are a type of lightly processed whole grain food.

Traditionally,

They are made from oat groats that have been dehusked and steamed before being rolled into flat flakes under heavy rollers and then stabilized by being lightly toasted.

Thick rolled oats are large whole flakes and thin rolled oats are smaller fragmented flakes.

Rolled whole oats,

Without further processing,

Can be cooked into a porridge and eaten as old fashioned oats or Scottish oats,

But more highly fragmented and processed rolled oats absorb water much more easily and therefore cook faster into a porridge.

So they are sometimes called quick or instant oats.

Besides porridge,

Rolled oats are most often the main ingredient in granola and muesli.

They can be further processed into a coarse powder which,

When cooked,

Becomes a thick liquid like broth.

Finer oatmeal powder is often used as baby food.

Process The oat,

Like other cereals,

Has a hard,

Inedible outer husk that must be removed before the grain can be eaten.

After the outer husk or chaff has been removed from the still bran covered oat grains,

The remainder is called oat groats.

Since the bran layer,

Though nutritious,

Makes the grains tough to chew and contains an msine that can cause the oats to go rancid,

Raw oat groats are often further steamed treated to soften them for a quicker cooking time,

Modern quick oats,

And to denature the enzymes for a longer shelf life.

Steel cut or pinhead oats Steel cut or pinhead oats are oat groats that have been chopped into smaller pieces before any steaming and thus retain bits of the bran layer.

Preparation Rolled oats can be eaten without further heating or cooking.

The oats are soaked for one to six hours in water-based liquids such as water,

Milk,

Or plant-based dairy substitutes.

The soaked duration depends on shape,

Size,

And pre-processing technique,

Saving the time and energy spent on heating,

Preserving its taste,

And saving its nutritional values destroyed during cooking.

Traditionally,

Oat groats are a whole grain that can be used as a breakfast cereal just like the various forms of oatmeal,

Rolled oats and pinhead oats can be cooked to make porridge.

Rolled oats are used in granola,

Muesli,

Outcakes,

And flapjacks like a granola bar,

Not a pancake.

Granola Granola is a breakfast food and snack food consisting of rolled oats,

Nuts,

Honey,

Or other sweeteners such as brown sugar and sometimes puffed rice.

It is usually baked until it is crisp,

Toasted,

And golden brown.

During the baking process,

The mixture is stirred to maintain a loose breakfast cereal consistency.

Fried fruits such as raisins and dates and confections such as chocolate are sometimes added.

Granola is often eaten in combination with yogurt,

Honey,

Fresh fruit such as bananas,

Strawberries,

Or blueberries,

Milk,

Or other forms of cereal.

It also serves as a topping for various pastries,

Desserts,

Or ice cream.

Granola is sometimes carried by people who are hiking,

Camping,

Or backpacking because it is nutritious,

Lightweight,

High in calories,

And easy to store,

Properties that make it similar to trail mix and muesli.

As a snack,

It is often combined with honey or corn syrup and compressed into a granola bar form that makes it easy to carry for packed lunches,

Hiking,

Or other outdoor activities.

History The names granola and granola were registered trademarks in the late 19th century United States for foods consisting of whole grain products,

Crumbled,

And then baked until crisp in contrast to the,

At that time,

About 1900,

Contemporary invention muesli,

Which is traditionally neither baked nor sweetened.

The name is now a trademark only in Australia and New Zealand,

But it is still more commonly referred to as muesli there.

Granola was invented in Dansville,

New York by Dr.

James Caleb Jackson at the Jackson Sanitarium in 1863.

The Jackson Sanitarium was a prominent health spa that operated into the early 20th century on the hillside overlooking Dansville.

It was also known as Our Home on the hillside.

Thus the company formed to sell Jackson's cereal was known as the Our Home Granola Company.

Granola was composed of gram flour and was similar to an oversized form of grape nuts.

A similar cereal was developed by John Harvey Kellogg.

It too was initially known as granola,

But the name was changed to granola to avoid legal problems with Jackson.

The food and name were revived in the 1960s and fruits and nuts were added to it to make it a health food that was popular with the health and nature-oriented hippie movement.

At the time,

Several people claimed to have revived or reinvented granola.

During Woodstock,

A soon-to-be hippie icon known as Wavy Gravy,

Popularized granola as a means of feeding large numbers of people during the festival.

Another major promoter was Layton Gentry,

Profiled in time as the Johnny Granola Seed.

In 1964,

Gentry sold the rights to a granola recipe using oats,

Which he claimed to have invented himself to Sovex Natural Foods for $3,

000.

The company was founded in 1953 in Hawley,

Michigan by the Herlinger family with the main purpose of producing a concentrated paste of brewer's yeast and soy sauce known as Sovex.

Earlier in 1964,

It had been bought by John Goodbred and moved to Collegedale,

Tennessee.

In 1967,

Gentry bought back the rights for West of the Rockies for $1,

500 and then sold the West Coast rights to Wayne Schlattauer of Lawson Foods in Chico,

California for $18,

000.

Lawson was founded from a health food bakery run by Schlattauer's father-in-law.

Canadian rights were ceded in 1972 to the Congregation Shalom Ba'olam,

A charitable organization which produced Layton Gentry's original crunchy granola as a fundraiser.

In 1972,

An executive at Pet Milk,

Later Pet Incorporated,

Of St.

Louis,

Missouri introduced Heartland Natural Cereal,

The first major commercial granola.

At almost the same time,

The Quaker Oats Company introduced Quaker 100% Natural Granola.

Quaker was threatened with legal action by Gentry and they subsequently changed the name of their product to Harvest Crunch.

Within a year,

Kellogg's had introduced its Country Morning Granola Cereal and General Mills had introduced its Nature Valley.

In 1974,

McKee Baking,

Later McKee Foods,

Makers of Little Debbie's Snack Cakes,

Purchased Savick's.

In 1998,

The company also acquired the Heartland brand and moved its manufacturing to Collegetale.

In 2004,

Savick's name was changed to Blue Planet Foods.

Granola Bar Granola bars,

Or muesli bars,

Have become popular as a snack,

Similar to the traditional flapjack familiar in the Commonwealth countries.

Granola bars consist of granola mixed with honey or other sweetened syrup,

Pressed and baked into a bar shape resulting in the production of a more convenient snack.

Granola bars are always individually packaged in a sealed pouch,

Even when a box of multiple bars is purchased.

This enables people to place the packaged bar in a purse,

Backpack,

Or other bag for consumption at a later point.

The product is most popular in the United States,

Canada,

Australia,

New Zealand,

The United Kingdom,

Parts of Southern Europe,

Brazil,

Israel,

South Africa,

And Japan.

Jane Hurley,

A senior nutritionist who works for the Center of Science,

And the public interest,

States that granola bars are not health food,

And they're basically cookies masquerading as health food.

Compared to a Kit Kat chocolate bar per weight,

A Peanut Butter Nature Valley granola bar contains similar amounts of calories and fat,

And significantly more sodium,

But half the sugar.

Matzo Granola Matzo granola is a breakfast food eaten by Jewish people during the holiday of Passover.

It consists of broken up matzo pieces in place of oats.

Any variations are possible by adding other ingredients.

Reviews

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I have only myself to blame for selecting a topic I was actually interested in. Although I missed nary a word, I did fall asleep almost immediately afterwards.
This was in my inbox this morning:
https://www.eatingwell.com/eggnog-baked-oats-8741789?print=

👍👍👍👍 I learned a lot about oats from this. Thank you!

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My first time here. ZzzZzzz I'll try another please

I learned a little and then ... your magical voice took me into a deep sleep - once again. Thank you Benjamin.

A fun way to quieten the mind and learn something new in the process even it dull. 😅😅

I wonder why no one ever mentions you in all the insomnia courses and literature! ;)

Love this series!

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Thoroughly enjoyed this podcast always so interesting thank you Namaste 🙏🏻

I love random information, so this would normally keep me engaged, unless it’s daylight but his voice put me to sleep. Fast!

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Didn’t think I’d fall asleep but 10 minutes in, I was out!😊

Loved it! Was really interesting lol. I'm hungry!! 🤣🙄😂

The things you can learn online amaze me, thank you!

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