Who would have thought that in one week, we would talk about quilting, knitting, vultures and oatmeal?
I’m a big oatmeal fan. I like it for breakfast and back in the old days, when Vince traveled a lot and was not home for dinner, Chad and I often had oatmeal for dinner.
There’s instant oatmeal. That’s all I used to eat. Open the packet, stir it into boiling water and it was done. I loved that you could get variety — peaches & cream, blueberry, etc. It was so convenient to keep a packet or two with me when I worked and if I missed lunch, I could have a packet of oatmeal.
Then I came across Old Fashioned Oats.
Old Fashioned Oats
To me, they tasted so much better, and I could make oatmeal cookies with this kind of oatmeal. For a long time, that’s the kind of oatmeal we used.
Then a friend told me about steel cut oats.
McCann’s Irish Oatmeal
We love this oatmeal. It’s crunchy and nutty and it just seems so healthy!
Yesterday I was cooking some oatmeal and decided to check to see just how much healthier steel cut oats are than other types of oats, including instant oatmeal.
Oatmeal Comparison
The instant oats are not used in this comparison because I didn’t have any of them here but I did have the above oats. Some instant oatmeal that has the added flavors does have some type of sweetener added so the nutritional value of the instant oatmeal is probably way different from the three above. On the left are the regular steel cut oats. They’re what we normally use for our oatmeal but they take 20 – 25 minutes to prepare. For my preparedness supplies, I keep the Quick Cook Steel Cut Oats. They cook in about 7 minutes. I figure if I’m cooking over an open fire or having to cook quickly, I’d rather be boiling oats for 7 minutes vs. 20 – 25 minutes. On the right are the Old Fashioned Oats. I only use those for cookies.
Nutrition Comparison
I’m sure no one ever told me but I assumed because I was eating steel cut oats, which in my mind is “whole grain”, I was eating a much healthier oatmeal but when reading the labels, which I obviously had never done . . all three of these are pretty much exactly the same – same calories, same fiber content, same sugar content, same fat content . . exactly the same.
Under the FAQs Quaker Oats discusses this very issue. Research revealed that their is some difference in the glycemic impact. The steel cut oats take longer to digest, therefore leaving you feeling full longer, as well as well as helping keep the blood sugar levels more even.
So, for us, we eat steel cut oats because we like them better, but not because they have more fiber, or less calories.
Diane says
I love steel cut oats! Have you tried making them in the crock pot overnight? Its great to wake up and have them ready to go. I use the double boiler method and they come out yummy.
JudyL says
My rice cooker actually has a porridge setting and that works great. I can set it to be ready for 6 a.m. and it works but I still prefer to cook them on top of the stove, since it’s most always just the two of us.
Deb says
We eat steel cut oats almost every day during the winter…. I put it together in a small crockpot at night before we go to bed, set a timer and it turns off about 10 min befor the alarm goes off. I add an apple, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and a little cinnamon to the pot. Fruit and oats in the morning and I’m full to lunch. DH like peaches too, but I usually have to open a can for those.
Sandy says
I like regular (quick, not instant) and old fashioned oatmeal, but haven’t tried steel cut oats. It’s now on my shopping list! Thanks for the oatmeal report!
Linda Kay says
I make mine in the slow cooker over night. 1 cup steel cut oats, 3 cups milk, 1 cup half and half ( my husband needs the extra calories) Sometimes I add dried fruit, or brown sugar and a little butter. Then I set the cooker on the low setting and have it come on about midnight. My husband loves it and I can make a weeks oats at once then put it in a plastic tub and just take out what I need for his breakfast the next morning and warm in the microwave.
Margery Allcock says
I make my porridge with pinhead oatmeal (sounds like your steelcut oats – quite coarsely cut), and water. Nothing else except a tiny pinch of salt once it’s in its bowl on the table. But then I was brought up in Scotland!
Marwell in TX says
Ok, it must be official now – you have started the Yellow Jacket Ranch Test Kitchen (or maybe J-V Texas Test Kitchen?). LOL – recipe tests, best taste tests, product surveys (canners, grills, even fabric, etc). I had to giggle with the comparison to America’s Test Kitchen. As for the oatmeal, it’s always been Quaker Old Fashioned Oats in my house & family starting back with grandparents long time ago. (First comment for me, a long time reader) Love it Judy. You can add me to your long list of admirers.
Irene in NC says
I make oatmeal (on the stove) often in the winter, but for dinner. Both BHE (best husband ever) and I like eating things that are not terribly heavy for dinner and oatmeal fits the bill perfectly…also, I make them with milk – we like them better this way. But I agree with those that do not like the “quick cook” stuff….
Leslie says
I buy the steel cut oats too. I make 4 servings by adding 1 cup of raw oats to 4 cups of water in a 3 quart pan.. I bring it to a full boil and turn off the burner, put a lid on it and let it rest on the burner until morning.
In the morning I heat it in the microwave for 2 minutes and it is perfect.
It takes about 12-15 minutes to boil.
You can bring it to a boil with the lid on or off.
If the pan is too small it will boil over.
Patti Tappel says
I had never had steel cut oats until a neighbor cleaned out her pantry when she went gluten free. I got lots of her groceries! Anywho, I love them. She gave me some she had bought at TJ MAxx. after I ate them I used the cool tin to put my Aldi steel cut oats in. It just looks like I buy rich brands. LOL.
I had read a report a couple of weeks ago, that the benefits from the different oats are really any different.
Cassandra says
Thanks for posting about this! Right now we eat the Old Fashioned oats but I would really like to try the steel cut oats. We have a really good rice cooker with a porridge setting so I need to test it out. Maybe I’ll add it to my grocery shopping list for next week!
Stephani in N. TX says
I eat the one-minute variety of oatmeal religiously. Even when I rushed to go to work before retirement and here in TX in 104 degree weather, that’s my bkfst. I put about 1/3 c. oats in my stoneware bowl, cover adequately with milk, cover with a small stoneware plate and microwave for 1 min 22 sec. Delicious bkfst that lasts and no pot, no sticky spoon. Add butter and honey and yum. One of the few foods I seem to get by my celiac and milk intolerance without difficulty, and love to death.I hated cleaning family oatmeal pots (for 7 people) when I was a kid. Egh!!
Jo's Country Junction says
I do this too. I add raisins, nuts or fruit. I love it!!
Mary in VA says
I like the steel cut (a co-worker introduced me to them) but usually don’t have time to fix them. I keep the instant packages in my desk at work and eat old-fashioned at home on weekends. My DH will not touch oatmeal but loves grits, hominy, and other oat products (including oatmeal cookies).
pdudgeon says
another steel cut oatmeal fan here! i use the quick cooking McCann’s oatmeal and fix mine in the microwave. 1 minute and they’re done and taste wonderful! it also helps that the bowl of oatmeal makes a great hand warmer in the morning. P>S> they also have an oatmeal cookie recipe on the box of instant oatmeal,, so you could kill two birds with one package.
Jane says
Have you tried Quaker’s Multi-Grain cereal? It’s a combination of oatmeal, barley, rye and wheat. Yummy!
Hilary McDaniel says
I like this one too. I tried steel cut but was too gritty for me. I don’t like instant but the slow cook whole oats. We just discovered the multigrain and really like it.
Lynne in Hawaii says
We use Irish or Scottish steel cut oatmeal. It is also a key ingredient for Irish Soda bread we make for St. Patricks Day. It is a dense whole grain, no yeast bread. I grind the wheat but my DH makes the bread:-)
Carolyn says
I’m a big oatmeal person too, I started buying PIN oats, they are usually cheaper in the baking department, and are the same as Steel Cut Oats!
Linda says
I love steel cut oats and always make enough to last several days. It reheats well in the microwave. I buy it in the bulk foods section and it is quite a bit cheaper that way.
Lee says
Thanks to goopy, sloppy oatmeal practically force-fed to me as a child, cooked oatmeal didn’t find it’s way into my kitchen, until, the instant packets as they were perfect for camping and backpacking – something I used to do! Then I decided I didn’t want all overly refined business of them, and somewhere I’d started hearing about the bennies of oatmeal and heard about Coach’s Oats carried at Costco. I cook them in the microwave, 4 1/2 minutes @ 70% power, having added a pinch of salt, a tad bit of sugar, and whatever dried, fresh or frozen fruit is at hand. I can enjoy it this way, sometimes even add a small bit of butter or milk.
JanetB says
DH and I have been eating Quaker Steel Cut Oats for a couple years. We ran out around Thanksgiving and there are none to be found in any of the grocery stores. I did find one brand of organic, but don’t like paying the extra $$. I guess they weren’t generating enough profit for the stores to devote the shelf space.
Dar in MO says
I am also a fan of steel cut oats, but don’t like that they charge so much more for them than regular Old Fashion type. Wonder why if the calories and fat content are the same. I cook them on top of my stove, since I’m the only one in the house that will eat oatmeal. I was raised by a Depression mom, so anything that was healthy and stayed with you for a long time was what we ate.
Norma V says
you all are making me hungry,..
Mel Meister says
I used to buy McCann’s steel cut oats until I found an online bulk supplier. McCann’s are so very expensive compared to buying in bulk. I keep it in the freezer.
We prefer to cook it up fresh, too. The texture is the best that way. I stir cream cheese, butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla into mine. (no milk) YUM!!!!
Jerzydeb says
I saute my steel cut oats in a little butter or EVOO the night before I want them for breakfast, boil them for a minute, with a little pinch of salt, cover them, turn them off and leave them. In the morning – I add some milk to heat them back up in the same pan – takes about 3 minutes – they are perfect every time !
Judy T says
I make a week’s worth of steel cut oats every Sunday. I put it in 7 small canning jars. Then every morning, I pull one out of the fridge, add a little fruit or nuts, microwave, and go!
Jo's Country Junction says
I love oatmeal for breakfast prepared like this
http://www.joscountryjunction.com/my-favorite-breakfast/#comments
Give it a try!!
Mary M says
I eat Quaker Old Fashioned made with one tablespoon, a honey, a sprinkling of cinnamon and blueberries (1/3 cup fresh when in season or 1/4 cup dried) every day. I add water from the instant hot and microwave for 30 seconds. By the time they are cool enough to eat they are done. Keeps cholesterol low and if they don’t get me through the morning I eat a piece of fruit, there is always plenty of fruit in the house and I always have a fruit salad in the fridge.
Amy @ Just being me says
I don’t eat oatmeal. It’s a texture thing with me. My children love it, though. I often have wondered what the difference between oats was, though. I despise the packets of instant oatmeal….way too much sugar and *stuff* in them. I buy the quick cook ones and add my own extras.