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See why.Steel-Cut Oats
Judging from the brands and styles cramming supermarket shelves, there's an oat for almost every taste. Are any better for breakfast or for baking?
Published July 1, 2009. Appears in Cook's Illustrated July/August 2009, America's Test Kitchen TV Season 10: All-Time Cookie Favorites
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Interest has swung back lately toward slower-cooking traditional oats, with stores offering Irish-style steel-cut options. In the test kitchen, we prefer steel-cut oats for breakfast. This style of oatmeal—steel-cut oats are sliced by steel blades; to make old-fashioned or rolled oats, the oats are steamed and rolled flat—offers firm, chewy texture and exceptionally full oat flavor. Surprisingly, the most familiar name in oatmeal, which is also the most expensive brand, came in last, while our winner offered outstanding buttery, nutty oat flavor and "creamy yet toothsome" texture.
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Tasters praised these steel-cut oats for “buttery goodness,” and “great oat flavor,” that is “earthy” and “nutty,” “whole grain-y in a good way,” “rich and complex,” with “a happy crunch—nibble-y, almost like popcorn.” “Creamy yet toothsome” texture with a “nice chew, moist but not sticky,” “like tapioca pearls popping in my mouth.” “All the good things you want.” In sum: “A winner.”
“Substantial oats,” that were “chewy,” “almost crunchy,” and “very unconventional.” Its texture appealed to many tasters, and its “toasty,” “nutty,” “brown-rice” or “barley” flavor was “complex” and “hearty.” “Like a warm granola bar,” one taster raved.
“Good texture, like that popping, bursting” feel you get from caviar, said one taster. “Good oat flavor, slightly sweet.” “A very nice balance of creaminess and crunch,” “toasty and substantial,” and “earthy.” However, a few tasters found it “a bit horsey.”
“Good all-around earthy, sweet oat flavor,” said tasters, who praised its “natural-tasting” “full-flavored, hearty” and “grainy,” “nice, fresh, grassy,” “strong” oat flavor. They also enjoyed its “good balance” of creaminess to graininess, though several tasters found it slightly “slimy” or “mucilaginous.”
Recommended with reservations
Tasters were split on this oatmeal, with some calling it “mild,” with “very plain oat flavor, a good canvas,” and a “flavor that’s pure and clean.” Others called it “bland,” “middle-of-the-road,” and “a bit mushy” and “gooey.”
Though some tasters thought this pricey imported oatmeal had “a good chew” and “very earthy flavor,” others said it was “too mild, almost timid,” “like cardboard or paper pulp,” with an “odd aftertaste,” that was slightly “bitter” and “vegetal,” like “raw seeds” or “grass.”
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