Learn everything about oats, the king of the breakfast table
Regardless of the season, oats are almost always found on the breakfast table. Oats are sought after for their unique taste and texture, coupled with the nutrition and satisfying warmth they provide.
Besides being a breakfast staple, oats have a variety of different uses. For instance, you’ll find them in nutritious granola bars, pancakes, and even muffins.
Due to their wide range of uses, there are many different types of oats for each purpose, just like there are many types of honey. You might’ve noticed some oats are creamier than others, while some are chunkier.
Initially, every type of oat starts out as oat groats, which are then roasted and processed differently to create new types of oats. Here’s everything you need to know about oats, from what they are to how they’re used.
What Are Porridge Oats?
When it comes to breakfast, porridge is one of the most popular dishes out there. It’s a cereal dish made out of boiled or chopped grains, typically submerged in milk. But do you know what are porridge oats?
There are many different types of grains used in the making of porridge to create unique textures and tastes. Porridge oats are one of many types of grains that are used to create a porridge.
However, there’s a widespread misconception that porridge oat is basically a term for any oat grain that’s used to make porridge.
In reality, that’s not true, as porridge oats are a unique type of grain, with a special texture and taste, used to make porridge or similar foods. Porridge oats are also often known as Scottish or Irish oats.
What really distinguishes porridge oats from other types of oats is the manufacturing process. Unlike other types, porridge oats are ground and chopped up.
Consequently, the final product is more powdery, leading to a creamier dish. Irish porridge oats are cut using a steel blade, creating a uniformly cut mixture of oats.
In contrast, Scottish porridge oats are cut using stone, leading to ground oat flour mixed with irregularly cut oats.
What Are Rolled Oats?
On the other hand, rolled oats are another type of oat grain used in food dishes such as porridge. Rolled oats are also known as old fashioned oats by many people.
Just like porridge oats, they are oat groats. However, they are a whole grain form of oats, unlike the chopped-up version known as porridge oats.
But as the name suggests, rolled oats are steamed and flattened using a heavy roller, separating them from the pure whole grain form.
The manufacturing process of rolled oats introduces changes in size, shape, cooking time, and texture.
They are steamed thoroughly before packaging, while the flattening increases their surface area, which allows for easier cooking.
Quick oats are a type of rolled oats that are highly pressed and flattened to make cooking even faster.
Difference between porridge oats and rolled oats?
By now you must be thinking are porridge oats rolled oats. As mentioned earlier, all oats start as oat groats, which are then roasted. So, it’s quite easy for people to confuse the two different types of oats hence why the question of rolled oats vs porridge oats is crucial.
It’s essential to know about the difference between rolled oats and porridge oats to use them in your food. Here’s some information you can use to answer the question, are rolled oats the same as porridge oats?
The point where oat groats are separated into porridge oats and rolled oats is the processing.
So, the first difference between the two oats is appearance. While porridge oats look more uniformly cut and powdered, rolled oats retain their whole-grain shape but in a flattened form.
As a result, a difference in texture arises, making porridge oats creamier and nuttier, while rolled oats have a mild flavour with a soft texture.
Moreover, due to being flattened, rolled oats have a greater surface area than porridge oats. This means that rolled oats will absorb heat easily while being cooked, which helps to cook faster.
In contrast, porridge oats can take anywhere from 15 to 20 minutes to be cooked properly. More importantly, rolled oats can stay fresh for a longer time compared to porridge oats.
The flattening process retains and stabilizes the healthy oils found inside oats, enabling them to stay fresh.
With all this information, you can safely answer the question, are porridge oats rolled oats?
What Is Oatmeal?
Oatmeal is an easy to cook and affordable dish with loads of nutrition, making it the king of the breakfast table, especially in European areas.
All you need is some water or milk to cook your oats in, and you’ll have your oatmeal in no time. As oats are a type of grain, oatmeal is essentially a type of porridge that contains only oats.
You can use a variety of different oats for making oatmeal to create the perfect taste and texture.
What is Porridge?
Porridge has been a staple dish for hundreds of years, providing us with a healthy breakfast. It may not look as appealing as other breakfast dishes as it’s a simple dish with grains soaked and cooked in milk or water.
However, people have enjoyed this dish for a long time due to its unique taste and nutrition. It can contain any kind of grain, such as rice, corn, or oats.
As a result, there are many different types of porridge, from savoury to sweet. For example, rice porridge known as congee is made in Asia, while buckwheat porridge, known as kasha, is found in Russia.
Difference between porridge & oatmeal
Porridge and oatmeal are both popular dishes often found at the breakfast table. You may have seen porridge, but are you sure it wasn’t oatmeal? It’s very easy for people to mix up the two foods, as they’re quite similar.
Now to answer the question is oatmeal porridge, which arises due to their similarities.
After all, both dishes contain a type of grain soaked and cooked in water. However, it’s essential to be able to distinguish between the two before you have a healthy breakfast with oatmeal or porridge.
As mentioned earlier, porridge is basically any type of grain soaked and cooked in liquid, whereas oatmeal is a type of porridge made with oats.
Therefore, the primary difference between the two dishes is the use of oats. However, there are some types of porridge that are not oatmeal but are made from oats in their whole form.
On the other hand, oatmeal is always made from ground or steel-cut oats. Both can be topped with a variety of things from honey to chocolate chips.
So, when asking is oatmeal the same as porridge, you’ll always know that the answer is no, as there are many differences clearly defined above.
Can You Substitute Porridge Oats for Rolled Oats?
Many different recipes specifically use rolled oats or porridge oats. For example, you’ll usually find rolled oats being used in baking items and granola, while porridge oats are mostly used in breakfast dishes like oatmeal.
However, you won’t have the right items each time for every recipe. In such a situation, there’s a need to improvise and substitute the required type of oats with a different type.
Regardless of the recipe, you’re trying to follow; it’s always possible to substitute porridge oats for rolled oats. However, doing so always introduces some changes in the final product and the cooking process.
For example, as porridge oats have a smaller surface area than rolled oats, you might increase your cooking time by using porridge oats instead. Furthermore, you’ll also notice a difference in texture while using porridge oats instead of rolled oats.
More importantly, you may have to introduce more changes to the recipe, as porridge oats require a different cooking procedure than rolled oats.
If you’re content with all the changes to the recipe and your final product, then there’s nothing to worry about while substituting porridge oats for rolled oats.
Health benefits of oats
Whether it’s rolled oats or porridge oats, eating them can be incredibly nutritious for your body in numerous ways. It’s safe to say that a well-balanced diet is incomplete without this essential item.
Out of all their health benefits, oats are known for being fibre rich and containing the Beta-Glucan, which is a soluble fibre.
Oats contain great amounts of this special fibre, which helps our body reduce cholesterol and blood sugar while encouraging the growth of healthy gut bacteria. This fibre is also responsible for the prolonged feeling of fullness after eating oats.
However, fibres aren’t the only nutritious thing inside oats. They are also known to be rich in antioxidants, which help reduce the risk of many diseases and damage from oxidants.
Most importantly, oats are the best source of an antioxidant called avenanthramide, as it’s very rarely found in our diets. Together with other antioxidants, avenanthramides reduce blood pressure and lead to better blood flow by dilating blood vessels.
Moreover, these antioxidants also have anti-itching and anti-inflammatory properties.
Among numerous other health benefits, eating oats can also help you control your blood sugar levels more effectively.
This is especially useful for people with type 2 diabetes or obesity. Moreover, oats can keep you full for a long time, which can be useful for people trying to lose weight.
Oat Difference Cooking Chart (cooking time, size, texture, etc)
If you want to learn more differences between porridge oats and rolled oats, a difference chart will be quite useful. It has all the information you need to be able to distinguish between the two types of oats.
Conclusion
Undoubtedly, oats are the king of the breakfast table and have surprising health benefits. So, it’s essential to incorporate them into your diet for a balanced source of nutrition.
Now that you know which type of oats to use for different dishes, you can cook delicious food items out of them. Whether it’s porridge or oatmeal, you’ll know which oats to select and how to cook them to perfection.
Andy
Ever since I started cooking I’ve been fascinated by how different people’s techniques are and how they best utilise the ingredients around them. Even the person living next door will have their own unique way of frying an egg or cooking a salmon fillet.
This fascination led me on a journey across the globe to discover the countless practices and traditions the world of cooking has to offer. I thought you’d enjoy and find value in sharing that journey with me so I created Cooked Best!