Why soak oats ? The reason is phytic acid. Soaking oats for 12-24 hrs allows the acid to be broken down and what remains is more available to the body for digestion. How to do this and why can be found at this most excellent post !
A long-term diet of untreated (soaked or fermented) grains will lead to mineral deficiencies and disease.
It's an old Irish tradition of soaking oats in milk or water and leaving them that way overnight. Consider that people of Irish descent in our modern world tend to have a higher than average rate of things like Celiac Disease . In our modern world few people soak grains, and perhaps this forgotten practice is one of the causing factors.In days gone by, the Quaker Oats box included he directions to soak them overnight. These bits of trivia also add credence to the practice.
I soaked our oats for 24 hrs and in the morning added the additional water and pumpkin puree. We really like pumpkin in oatmeal for some reason ! Then I placed a spoonful of homemade almond butter and a tablespoon of ground flax in each bowl, added the cooked oats and poured a tablespoon of real maple syrup on top of this.
The results ? The best bowl of oatmeal I had ever made ! Creamy, a richer flavor and incredibly satisfying. It was completely worth the effort to soak them ahead of time, and is something I will do from now on.
I cannot wait to try working with the soaking technique for yeast breads !!
3 comments:
I'm loving this experimentation, Diane!
So, after you soak the oatmeal, do you then cook it? Or is there no need, like in overnight oats?
Also, if it's more easily digestible for the body, would it not hold you over that long? I found that oats always left me starving about an hour and a half after I ate it unless I piled it high with toppings!
Can't wait to hear about your yeast bread!
In this method, you cook the oats after soaking. I found this to be even more satisfying and long lasting as far as appetite than the "normal" methods of cooking. I was noticing for a while that oats also made me hungry, and perhaps it was the phytic acid. It blocks your bodies ability to absorb different vitamins and minerals, so it would make sense that it would leave you hungry after a short time. Not the case for all, but perhaps those of us with a certain level of sensitivity noticed it faster. I think it would be worth a try to see if it makes oats more satiating for you.
That sounds so good. I eat oatmeal most mornings and am going to try soaking. Your add ins sound good too! Maybe too good for this food addict. Thanks for the idea.
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