I saw something somewhere on here about steel cut oats and now I can't find it. My question is are they really that much better? I have been having a hard time finding them, so I have old fashioned rolled oats. Is it worth the trip across the city to find the health food store and get some?
my regular grocery store carries them, but in the European imported foods section with the other Irish foods. (Steel cut = Irish oats. Not, though Scottish oats!) If your grocery store has an imported food section, you might check there.
As for the broader question, steel cut oats are less highly processed, which typically means better for you. In this case, steel cut oats have lower glycemic index and cause less of a spike in insulin levels. (Put differently, you'll feel fuller for longer.) Is the difference worth it? Dunno.
Steel cut oats take longer to cook: 15-30 minutes, vs. 3-5. If you're chronically pressed for time in the am, you're better off with rolled oats. (Some people start steel cut oats in a crock pot the night before, but this takes way too much organization for me. Plus, crock pots can't go in the dishwasher.)
Cooking Light has an article on oats (I think the latest issue) in which they have a recipe for soaking the steel-cut oats overnight in the refrigerator and microwaving in the morning.
They say that basically oats are oats. Not like flour where the good stuff is taken out. The major difference is texture and cooking time. I like the steel-cut and buy in bulk from somewhere like Whole Foods.
I like the steel cut much better. You can actually chew it. Its not all mushy like rolled oats. My local grocery store has a store brand version. I've also seen it at my local Target.
Steel cut oats are a different consistency. Each little "bubble" pops between the teeth. Love it!
If your grocery store has a "health foods" section, you might it there. My store has them in the baking aisle, not sure why. I've also seen it next to malt-o-meal! LOL! I think grits, malto-o-meal and oatmeals are all in the cereal aisle.
Look for McCann's Irish oats, sold in a rather retro-looking white can with gold seals of approval from various British royal family members all over it. I think they're like oatmeal makers to H.R.H. or something. When you set that can on your kitchen table in the morning, to read the labels while you are partaking of your oats (sort of like reading the back of a cereal box), you will feel like Lady So-and-So breakfasting in her peignoir in the balmy years just before the Great War.
ETA: If you buy the cardboard box of McCann's, you totally miss out on the full experience. Don't.
Look for McCann's Irish oats, sold in a rather retro-looking white can with gold seals of approval from various British royal family members all over it. I think they're like oatmeal makers to H.R.H. or something. When you set that can on your kitchen table in the morning, to read the labels while you are partaking of your oats (sort of like reading the back of a cereal box), you will feel like Lady So-and-So breakfasting in her peignoir in the balmy years just before the Great War.
ETA: If you buy the cardboard box of McCann's, you totally miss out on the full experience. Don't.
lolol! I think you must read the same novels I do - I love all those "between the wars" British family sagas.
This whole thread has made me feel like I should get some oats. I love Cream of Wheat, and have that as a treat sometimes at night, but I know nutritionally, I'd be far better off with oatmeal.
Thanks guys, you have convinced me. I'm going to find the steel cut. I stay home with the kids, so I have time in the mornings, even on my school days.
Also on the crockpot thing--you can line them with a turkey bag if you really don't want to do much clean up! LOL--I am a stay-at-home mom too but I am all about taking the way way out! I know--I am bad!
steel cut v. rolled oats?
Love it! 
