Fresh is key. Enjoy a taste of oat flakes heaven with Wolfgang’s muesli or search “Bircher Muesli” on Youtube for awesome snack recipes. Good ‘ol granola and hot oatmeal cereal can’t be beat with freshly flaked oats. Try oatmeal raisin cookies and oatmeal muffins made from your own rolled oats. Need more ideas? – check out 50 Things to Make with Oats from the Food Network.
Flakers are commonly used for turning oat groats into oat flakes, but most varieties of wheat can also be flaked. See below for what can and can’t be flaked or ground.
Very useful info: Oat groats are naturally soft and flake nicely as they come. Other grains may be prone to crumble without a little help. Do this before flaking – put the quantity of oats or grain you want to flake into a zip-lock bag with a little water in the ratio of 1 teaspoon per cup of grain, seal the bag and shake it up to disperse the water. Then let it sit for a few hours overnight. The added moisture softens the grain just enough to produce a nicer flake. Even your oats will turn out better. Resist the temptation to add more water than suggested. Too moist, and the grain might clog the metal flaking wheels.
What ingredients can be flaked?
Almost all types of grain: oats, spelt, rye, einkorn, emmer. All wheat varieties.
Rice and millet can be crushed but are more likely to be powdered (as they are very dry)
So-called pseudo-cereals such as buckwheat and quinoa
Most oilseeds, such as flaxseeds, sunflower seeds, sesame, hemp seeds, etc.
Incidentally, it is very important to crush flaxseed before consumption, as only then can the body process the valuable nutrients (e.g., omega-3 fatty acids). The flaxseed husk is simply too hard for the digestive system to break it down on its own.
And which ones CANNOT be flaked?
Corn (too big), pumpkin seeds (too big), nuts like almonds, peanuts, cashews (too oily), coffee, legumes (too big).
Technical specifications:
- Output: About 1 cup of oat flakes per minute on medium speed
- Hopper capacity: 3 ½ cups
- Rollers: stainless steel (wear and corrosion-resistant)
- Reasonably quiet
- Warranty: 3 years for noncommercial use
- Made in Germany