Can oat groats go bad from soaking?

[sosiesmom]

So, I'm on my THIRD attempt at making oatmeal cokies from _Living Cuisine_. The first attempt turned out awesome. The second attempt - and I did everything the same - was a mess. I posted about it and got the message that my grains had probably fermented in the dehydrator. So, this time, I followed the recipe again, and turned the dehydrator up to 145 degrees for the first 2 hours. IT's been 2 hours now and the cookies smell sorta strange and taste a little bit strange. I used less agave this time (just trying to get off agave, ya know) so maybe that is it. Anyone know if perhaps I let them spoil cause I soaked them too long (about 12-14 hours) in the fridge? Could the grains already have been bad? How to tell?

Thanks.

[Coriander74]

I don't know about the oats but I managed to kill buckwheat last week ... that's a smell you never forget LOL

I hope it works for you next time!

[Sheryl]

Most oats are actually 'stabilized' by heating and are therefore not alive and not able to grow. I've had the same thing happen with standard oats, but never with really raw ones. In Australia though it's almost impossible to get raw ones.

This is problably why you find they go off so fast.

Cheers,
Sheryl

[RawFoodieMom]

I'm not sure if this is the problem, but you should soak at room temperature, not in the fridge. You hinder the germination process if you soak in the fridge. The whole purpose of soaking is to start the germination process and release enzymes, and this process is slowed down dramatically in the fridge, which is why things take longer to go bad in the fridge.

[Green Life]

I have noticed when using sproutable raw oats (sunorganicfarm) that if I don't soak them in the fridge, they will ferment because they are not stablized like most store bought oats are. So, I soak them overnight in the fridge then sprout in the fridge the next day. The day after that, I dry them or use them right away.

The truly raw oats will spoil very very quickly. This is why they are refrigderated even when not soaking or sprouting.


Green life

[Vanessa]

I've noticed that my oat groats smell fermented if I soak them too long. If it's particularly hot out, I think there is more of a chance of them going bad more quickly. I've thought that I should soak them in the fridge also...