oatmeal

{{Infobox food

| name = Oatmeal

| image = Oatmeal.jpg

| image_size = 250px

| caption = Rolled oats (uncooked)

| alternate_name = White oats

| country =

| region =

| creator =

| course =

| type =

| served =

| main_ingredient = Oat groats

| variations =

| calories =

| other =

}}

Oatmeal is a preparation of oats that have been de-husked, steamed, and flattened, or a coarse flour of hulled oat grains (groats) that have either been milled (ground), rolled, or steel-cut. Ground oats are also called white oats. Steel-cut oats are known as coarse oatmeal, Irish oatmeal, or pinhead oats. Rolled oats were traditionally thick old-fashioned oats, but they can be made thinner or smaller and may be categorized as quick oatmeal or instant oatmeal depending on the cooking time required, which is determined by the size of the oats and the amount of precooking.

Industrial preparation and varieties

The oat grains are de-husked by impact, and are then heated and cooled to stabilize the groats, the seed inside the husk. The groats may be milled to produce fine, medium, or coarse oatmeal.{{cite web |url=http://www.nairns-oatcakes.com/about-us/to-the-mill/ |title=Nairn's (2010) |publisher=Nairns-oatcakes.com |access-date=2012-10-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718081224/http://www.nairns-oatcakes.com/about-us/to-the-mill/ |archive-date=2011-07-18 |url-status=dead }}

Rolled oats are oats that have been steamed, flattened by a "flaking roller", and dried. Old-fashioned oats are made from whole oat groats and may be thick and require longer cooking time. Quick-cooking rolled oats are made from steel-cut oats and rolled somewhat thinner. Instant oatmeal is made from more finely cut oats and rolled even thinner, often with a sweetener and flavorings added.Trowbridge Filippone, F. (2007) [http://homecooking.about.com/od/howtocookvegetables/a/oatmeal.htm "Oatmeal Recipes and Cooking Tips"] About.com{{cite book |author1=Hosahalli Ramaswamy |author2=Amalendu Chakraverty |author3=Mujumdar, Arun S. |author4=Vijaya Raghavan |title=Handbook of postharvest technology: cereals, fruits, vegetables, tea, and spices |publisher=Marcel Dekker |location=New York, N.Y |year=2003 |pages=358–372 |isbn=978-0-8247-0514-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y4N54Wn618YC&pg=PA358 |access-date=Feb 13, 2010}}

Food uses

File:091223 galletas de avena.JPG made with oatmeal, flour, sugar and butter]]

{{nutritional value

| name = Unenriched oatmeal, cooked with water

| kJ = 297

| protein = 2.5 g

| fat = 1.5 g

| carbs = 12 g

| fiber = 1.7 g

| sugars = 0.3

| calcium_mg = 9

| iron_mg = 0.9

| magnesium_mg = 27

| phosphorus_mg = 77

| potassium_mg = 70

| sodium_mg = 4

| zinc_mg = 1

| manganese_mg = 0.6

| vitC_mg = 0

| thiamin_mg = 0.08

| riboflavin_mg = 0.02

| niacin_mg = 0.23

| pantothenic_mg = 0.197

| vitB6_mg = 0.005

| folate_ug = 6

| vitA_ug = 0

| vitE_mg = 0.08

| vitK_ug = 0.3

| water = 83.6

| source_usda = 1

| note = [https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/173905/nutrients Link to USDA Database entry]

}}

Both types of rolled oats may be eaten uncooked, as in muesli, or cooked with water or milk to make porridge. In some countries, rolled oats are eaten raw or toasted with milk and sugar, sometimes with raisins added, as in muesli. The term oatmeal sometimes refers to a porridge made from the bran or fibrous husk as well as from the kernel or groat.Prewett's (manufacturer of oatmeal) Rolled oats are often used as a key ingredient in granola, in which toasted oats are blended with sugar and/or nuts and raisins, and in granola bars.

Rolled oats are also used as an ingredient in oatmeal cookies, oatcakes, British flapjack bars, and baked oatmeal dessert dishes such as apple Brown Betty and apple crisp. Oats may also be added to foods as an accent, as in the topping on many oat bran breads and as the coating on Caboc cheese. Oatmeal is also used as a thickening agent in savory Arabic or Egyptian meat-and-vegetable soups, and sometimes as a way of adding relatively low-cost fibre and nutritional content to meatloaf.

=Nutrition=

Unenriched oatmeal, cooked by boiling or microwaving, is 84% water and contains 12% carbohydrates, including 2% dietary fiber, and 2% each of protein and fat (table). In a 100-gram amount, a serving of cooked oatmeal provides 71 Calories and contains 29% of the Daily Value (DV) for manganese and moderate content of phosphorus and zinc (11% DV each), with no other micronutrients in a significant quantity (see table on right).

=Health effects=

Oatmeal and other oat products were the subject of a 1997 ruling by the Food and Drug Administration that consuming oat bran or whole rolled oats can lower the risk of heart disease when combined with a low-fat diet via the effect of oat beta-glucan to reduce levels of blood cholesterol.{{cite web|url=https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-1997-01-23/pdf/97-1598.pdf|title=21 CFR Part 101; Docket No. 95P–0197; RIN 0910–AA19; Food Labeling: Health Claims; Oats and Coronary Heart Disease|publisher=US Food and Drug Administration|date=23 January 1997|access-date=29 July 2017}} A similar conclusion was reached in 2010 by the European Food Safety Authority.{{cite journal|author1=EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies|title=Scientific Opinion on the substantiation of a health claim related to oat beta glucan and lowering blood cholesterol and reduced risk of (coronary) heart disease under Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006|journal=EFSA Journal|date=2010|volume=8|issue=12|page=1885|doi=10.2903/j.efsa.2010.1885|doi-access=}}

A 2023 review found oat consumption can significantly lower blood pressure.{{cite journal|author=Xi H, Zhou W, Niu Y, Zhu R, Wang S, Guo Y, Liu W, Xiong X, Guo L.|year=2023|title=Effect of Oat Consumption on Blood Pressure: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials|journal=J Acad Nutr Diet|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2212267222011960|volume=123|issue=5|pages=809–823|doi=10.1016/j.jand.2022.11.010|pmid=36435335}}

Regional variations

=Ireland=

In Ireland, stirabout ({{Langx|ga|leite}}){{Cite web|url=https://www.libraryireland.com/SocialHistoryAncientIreland/III-XVII-6.php|title=Corn and Its Preparations in Ancient Ireland|website=www.libraryireland.com}} was formerly a staple food, made by stirring oatmeal into boiling water or milk to form a thin soup. It could be flavoured with cream, sugar, butter, salt, honey, seeds or fruit on top.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theenglishkitchen.co/2022/03/irish-stirabout.html|title=Irish Stirabout}}{{Cite web|url=https://inanirishhome.com/tag/irish-stirabout/|title=Irish Stirabout|website=In an Irish Home}}

Because of its cheapness, and the ease with which it could be prepared in large quantities, stirabout was widely served in institutions like prisons, boarding schools, convents, and workhouses.{{Cite web|url=https://www.askaboutireland.ie/learning-zone/primary-students/subjects/history/history-the-full-story/ireland-in-the-19th-centu/soup-kitchens-and-workhou/|title=Soup Kitchens and Workhouses|website=www.askaboutireland.ie}} For example, in 1863, children in workhouses received stirabout for their breakfast: made of half oats and half cornmeal, each child got {{cvt|5|oz}} of meal and {{cvt|0.5|imppt}} of milk.{{Cite web|url=https://www.waterfordmuseum.ie/exhibit/web/Display/article/330/15/Desperate_Haven__The_Famine_in_Dungarvan_Workhouse_Diet_1850__1900_.html|title=Workhouse Diet 1850 - 1900 - Desperate Haven - The Famine in Dungarvan - Waterford County Museum|website=www.waterfordmuseum.ie}} Similarly, in 1891, district asylum inmates got {{cvt|6|-|8|oz}} of meal in stirabout every morning.{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zHUTAAAAYAAJ&dq=stirabout&pg=RA1-PA78|title=Parliamentary Papers|first=Great Britain Parliament House of|last=Commons|date=January 10, 1892|publisher=H.M. Stationery Office|via=Google Books}} Similarly, in the 20th century, prisoners got between {{cvt|0.5|imppt}} and {{cvt|1|imppt}} of stirabout for breakfast in many Irish jails.{{Cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/ga/debates/debate/dail/1931-07-09/7|title=Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Cost of Victualling in Prisons. – Dáil Éireann (6th Dáil) – Thursday, 9 Jul 1931 – Tithe an Oireachtais|first=Tithe an|last=Oireachtais|date=July 9, 1931|website=www.oireachtas.ie}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1959-06-30/44|title=Written Answers. - Dublin Prison Food Statistics. – Dáil Éireann (16th Dáil) – Tuesday, 30 Jun 1959 – Houses of the Oireachtas|first=Houses of the|last=Oireachtas|date=June 30, 1959|website=www.oireachtas.ie}}{{Cite web|url=https://jstor.org/stable/community.29940931|title=Circular by Inspectors General of Prisons to Board of Superintendence of Irish County Prisons in reference to proposed Alteration in Prison Dietaries|author=University of Southampton|year=1868}}

=Scotland=

Oatmeal has a long history in Scottish culinary tradition because oats are better suited than wheat to the country's low temperatures and high humidity.{{cite book|title=Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VbcZAQAAMAAJ|year=1859|publisher=Royal Agricultural Society of England|page=169}} As a result, oats became the staple grain of Scotland. The ancient universities of Scotland had a holiday called Meal Monday to permit students to return to their farms and collect more oats for food.

Samuel Johnson referred, disparagingly, to this in his dictionary definition for oats: "A grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people." His biographer, James Boswell, noted that Lord Elibank was said by Sir Walter Scott to have retorted, "Yes, and where else will you see such horses and such men?"The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: Including a Journal of His Tour to the Hebrides. Volume 3 by James Boswell. New York: Derby & Jackson, 1858. Page 11.

In Scotland, oatmeal is created by grinding oats into a coarse powder.{{cite book |year=1874 |title=The Food Journal |publisher=J.M. Johnson & Sons |location=London |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-XgBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA422 |quote=The grain of oats, intended for human food, is generally prepared by being ground into meal; although it is also used in the form of groats, that is, of grain denuded of its husk, and merely broken into fragments. Oatmeal is of two kinds, both common in all shops in which it is sold, fine meal, and coarse or round meal. For various purposes, some prefer the one and some the other. There is no difference in quality, but merely in the degree to which the grain has been triturated in the mill. |access-date=Feb 14, 2010}} It may be ground fine, medium, or coarse, or rolled, or the groats may be chopped in two or three pieces to make what is described as pinhead oatmeal.{{cite news|author=Sybil Kapoor |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/jan/07/sybil-kapoor-makes-perfect-porridge |title=How to make perfect porridge | Life and style |newspaper=The Guardian |date= 2010-01-07|access-date=2012-10-08 |location=London}} Ground oatmeal, rolled oats, and pinhead oatmeal are all used throughout Britain; one Scots manufacturer describes varieties as "Scottish Porridge Oats" (rolled), "Scottish Oatmeal" (medium ground), and "Pinhead Oatmeal".{{cite web|url=http://www.hamlynsoats.co.uk/products/ |title=Oatmeal product list of a Scots manufacturer |publisher=Hamlynsoats.co.uk |access-date=2018-08-14}} The main uses are:

Traditional porridge
Brose: a thick mixture made with uncooked oatmeal (or medium oatmeal that has been dry toasted by stirring it around in a dry pot over heat until it turns a slightly darker shade and emits a sweet, nutty fragrance) and then adding butter or cream. Quick-cooking rolled oats (distinct from "instant" variations) are often used for this purpose nowadays because they are quicker to prepare.
Gruel, made by mixing oatmeal with cold water that is strained and heated for the benefit of infants and people recovering from illness.
as an ingredient in baking
in the manufacture of bannocks or oatcakes
as a stuffing for poultry
as a coating for Caboc cheese
as the main ingredient of the Scottish dish skirlie, or its chip-shop counterpart, the deep-fried thickly-battered mealy pudding
mixed with sheep's blood, salt, and pepper to make Highland black pudding ({{Lang|ga|marag dubh}}).
mixed with fat, water, onions, and seasoning, and boiled in a sheep's intestine to make {{Lang|ga|marag geal}}, Outer Hebridean white pudding, served sliced with fried eggs at breakfast. A sweeter version with dried fruit is also known.
as a major component of haggis.
in sowans, not strictly made from the meal but as a porridge-like dish made from the fermented inner husks of oatsMcNeill, F. Marian (1929). The Scots Kitchen. Paperback: 259 pages, Edinburgh: Mercat Press; New Edition (25 Oct 2004) {{ISBN|1-84183-070-4}}, p202{{cite book |editor= Mairi Robinson |title= The Concise Scots Dictionary |publisher= Aberdeen University Press |year= 1987 |isbn= 978-0-08-028492-7 |page= 648}}

=Staffordshire=

Staffordshire oatcakes are a local component of the full English breakfast. It is a plate-sized pancake, made with medium oatmeal and wheatmeal (flour), along with yeast. Once the mixture has risen, it is ladled onto a griddle or bakestone and dried through. Staffordshire oatcakes are commonly paired with bacon, sausages, mushrooms, kidney, and baked beans, among others.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/mar/02/how-to-make-the-perfect-staffordshire-oatcakes |title=How to make the perfect Staffordshire oatcakes | Food |newspaper=The Guardian |date=2018-01-29 |access-date=2018-08-14|last1=Cloake |first1=Felicity }} A related oatcake is sometimes found in neighbouring Derbyshire.

=The Netherlands, the Nordic countries, the Baltics and Russia=

Throughout the Netherlands, the Nordic countries, the Baltic states and Russia, oatmeal porridge made from rolled oats and water or milk is a traditional breakfast staple. Known under various local names meaning {{Gloss|oat porridge}}, {{Gloss|oat flake porridge}} or {{Gloss|oatmeal porridge}}, it is normally made either savoury or sweet by adding salt or sugar, and it is often eaten with added nuts, raisins or dried fruits as well as spices, most commonly cinnamon. Local names for the porridge include Dutch {{Lang|nl|havermoutpap}}, Swedish {{Lang|sv|havregrynsgröt}}, Danish {{Lang|da|havregrød}}, Norwegian {{Lang|no|havregrøt}} or {{Lang|no|havregraut}}, Icelandic {{Lang|is|hafragrautur}}, Finnish {{Lang|fi|kaurapuuro}}, Estonian {{Lang|et|kaerahelbepuder}}, Latvian {{Lang|lv|auzu pārslu (putra)}}, Lithuanian {{Lang|lt|avižinių dribsnių košė}}, Polish {{Lang|pl|owsianka}} and Russian {{Lang|ru|овсянка}} ({{Lang|ru-latn|ovsyanka}}).

Oatmeal porridge has a long tradition in these regions, but during the Middle Ages porridge made from rye or barley was even more common in at least some parts of the area.Ohlmarks, Åke (1995). Fornnordiskt lexikon. Tiden. p. 115

=United States=

In the United States, oatmeal is often served as a porridge{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K5taAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT777|title=Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink|first=John F.|last=Mariani|date=February 4, 2014|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA|isbn=978-1-62040-161-3 |via=Google Books}} with milk or cream and a sweetener, such as brown sugar, honey, or maple syrup. The term oatmeal is used in American English to mean porridge. It may include additional ingredients such as peanut butter, cinnamon, or various types of fruits.{{Cite web|url=https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/peanut-butter-oatmeal/|title = Peanut Butter Oatmeal|website=www.tasteofhome.com}}

=Nigeria=

In Nigeria, a common oatmeal dish known as zimbuleh is eaten during the winter months.{{Citation needed|reason=no primary source; all secondary sources seem to have copied it from this article|date=February 2024}} Traditionally it is sweetened with raw honey and cardamom. In the Eket and Kwa Ibo regions it is often served alongside warm milk, and it is customary to pour the milk into the porridge just moments before eating.