?bitter raw oats?

[kaybee]

I purchased several pounds of what are said to be truly raw, organic, rolled oats (gold mine nat foods brand) from a reputable raw foods mail-order source. both times i have purchased them, they have tasted so BITTER to me... i love regular cooked oatmeal, oatmeal cookies, etc, but these raw ones are so bitter. yuck. has anyone else found this? are they supposed to be this way? even adding sweetner doesnt make them palatable...

thanks.

kb

[Rawkinlocs]

Yeah, I've seen a few people here mention that the "truly" raw oats were bitter. I know that the whole reason that they steam them in the first place is because they are said to have a very short shelf-life before going rancid so not sure if this (rancidity)is what is causing the bitterness or not.

Now, I've had Alissa's oats before and it was a while ago, but I don't recall them being bitter. So, you can try hers or you can get the steel cut oats or whole oat groats from your local natural food store although they are not truly raw (my family and I use all the time them with no problems at all) or just not use oats and sub with a different grain. It's another one of those "pick and choose your battles" things.

[rawkchicster]

I just got some from glaser organic farms, and I didn't find them bitter...

[kaybee]

yeah, i was wondering that about the shelf-life; I'd read that too about the shelf-life and it made me wonder if they were rancid. I'll probably try Alissa's just to see if its just me or really the oats, and I may try getting the sprout-able oats. not getting any more of these ones i have though--yuck.

[walnutty]

Alissa Cohen sells the Gold Mine Natural Food brand on her website. I ordered some just a short time ago and they are very bitter.

[kaybee]

huh. thanks for the heads up, walnutty. thats the same brand i got. must just be a matter of taste then... guess my body doesnt like em or something. i think ill try to get some sprouting oats and sprout them and try those. if i dont like those either than goodbye oats. they think i have gluten sensitivity anyway, but i really want grains/carbs and nuts are so expensive and hard to get truly raw now and im not a big fan of buckwheat or sprouted quinoa...

[walnutty]

kaybee,

Sunflower seeds can be substituted for almost any nut and they are very economical. I get raw, organic hulled sunflower seeds at Whole Foods Market for $1.99 a pound. I can't handle raw grains at all. They make me very sick to my stomache. I can tolerate cooked grains just fine, so I don't know that grains are necessarily meant to be eaten raw. I just don't eat them at all, though, because I am a raw vegan. Also, another RFT member posted about great prices for truly raw, organic cashews...which I love to use in recipes also. They are about $8.00 a pound on iherb.com. Iherb.com has very low shipping also, so you might want to check them out. Good luck with the oats. I have no idea what to do with the 12 pounds I purchased from alissacohen.com. They are just not palatable...:(

[rawgreenyogini]

I also use Alissa's oats and they are bitter. I solve that by soaking them in water first for about 15-30 minutes. Drain and rinse.

I use them mainly in cookie recipes and pie crusts.

[walnutty]

I solve that by soaking them in water first for about 15-30 minutes. Drain and rinse.

Thanks for the suggestion, rawgreenyogini!

I will try that method next time I feel like oatmeal...:)

[kaybee]

hey--thx for the suggestions--have to admit though im rather sick of sunflower seeds; i was in ireland all summer and went through about 12 or 15 lb of them because nuts were so unaffordable.... :) i think sproutpeople has the hullless sprouting oats. im gonna try those and see how those are... man, too bad u cant find someone to buy those oats from you. thats alot of oats....

[Lady Green Jeans]

Oat groats have a short shelf life and anyone who sells them is aware of this and usally takes the step to refrigerate them to effectively extend their shelf life. The bitter ones are rancid--pitch them. I order from Sun Organic Foods and have not had any problem as long as I keep mine refrigerated upon receipt.

When I first moved to San Diego, a wonderful health food store in my small town had a cold room which contained all the grains, nuts and sproutables. Awsome. Was a very sad day when they closed up shop. Wish more establishments would take this step--they would have me as a customer for life!