Oat Milk From Oat Groats

Prepared and photographed by NutraMilk nutritionist, Florencia Tagliavini.

Most people make oat milk from rolled oats but you can also make it from oat groats, which is the least processed form of oats and the most nutrient dense. Oats are a good source of fiber and they provide more protein than most other grains. They are also loaded with vitamins and minerals such as manganese, copper, phosphorus, zinc, iron, selenium and vitamin B1. Whole oats are the only food source of avenanthramides, a unique group of antioxidants believed to protect against heart disease. Oat goats are the whole kernel, a result of simply harvesting oats, cleaning them, and removing their inedible hulls. The difference between making milk from rolled oats and oat groats is the soaking time. With rolled oats we recommend soaking oats for 30 minutes prior to making milk, mostly to take out the slimmy consistency it can have and therefore obtain a smooth texture.

We tried experimenting with different soaking times to obtain the best results. You can try this yourself as taste and texture is very personal. We made 3 milks, soaking oat groats for 30 minutes, 2 hours and overnight.

The consistency of the three milks was very similar, the taste was quite different. The groats soaked the least amount (30 minutes) of time had a bitter taste while the other 2 did not have a bitter taste at all. My personal favorite was the milk where the oats were soaked overnight, this milk also had the least amount of residue left over, which means more nutrition in your glass. I recommend soaking for at least 2 hours to get the best results and if you have time, soak longer. Play around with soaking times and see what you like best. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

For oat milk (yields 1 quart /4 cups / 946 mL)

• 1 cup (107g) oat groats
• 1 quart (946ml) water
• pinch of Pink Himalayan salt (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

• Allow oats to soak for 2 hours or more before preparing your oat milk.

Photos in corresponding order: oat groats soaked overnight; soaked 2 hours; soaked 30 minutes.

• Drain oats.
• Place oats and salt in NutraMilk container.
• Press Butter cycle, set for I minute.

• Press Start.
• Open the container lid, add the water. Replace lid.
• Press Mix (do not change this default time).
• Press Start.
• Press Dispense and open spigot to fill your storage container.

Photos in corresponding order: residue left from overnight soak; 2 hour soak; 30 minutes soak.

Photos in corresponding order: Oat milk from oat groats soaked overnight, 2 hour soak; 30 min soak.