For a healthy and hearty breakfast, few foods can match up to a bowl of oatmeal. There is a wide variety of oats available on the market today, including rolled oats and steel cut oats. Here's compare these two types of popular and easy to find oats.
Instructions
1. Take into consideration the processing of rolled and steel cut oats. Both rolled oats and steel cut oats contain whole grain oats; however, the processing for these oats varies. Rolled oats are oats that are steamed, rolled, steamed and toasted. This produces oat flakes that have gone through considerable processing. Steel cut oats, on the other hand, simply consist of oat groats (the inside of an oat kernel) chopped into several pieces. This produces oat chunks instead of oat flakes. Steel cut oats undergo much less processing than rolled oats.
2. Compare the textures of rolled oats and steel cut oats. Rolled oats have a much less nutty texture than steel cut oats. Steel cut oats also taste chewier and nuttier than rolled oats. Some people would even say that steel cut oats taste heartier than rolled oats and have a less gummy consistency than rolled oats.
3. Consider the cooking times of rolled oats and steel cut oats. Rolled oats take much less time to cook than steel cut oats. Rolled oats can cook in 5 to 15 minutes, whereas steel cut oats can take up to several hours to cook. Some steel cut oat manufacturers even recommend an overnight soaking of steel cut oats prior to cooking. Some people use a slow cooker or a rice cooker to cook steel cut oats.
4. Think about the nutritional differences between rolled oats and steel cut oats. Both rolled oats and steel cut oats contain fiber, protein, calcium and B vitamins. They also are low in calories, low in fat and contain no sodium. Some studies show that steel cut oats, however, do contain more dietary fiber than rolled oats. Dietary fiber serves to help lower cholesterol, reduce one's risk of heart disease and prevent type II diabetes.
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