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I've seen several people insist that steel-cut oats are better than regular oats. What makes them different?

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Cool post on the difference: almightydad.com/fitness-nutrition/… – Michael Pryor Aug 17 '10 at 22:09
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'steel-cut oats' are also called 'pinhead oats', 'irish oats', or 'scotch oats', or 'porridge oats' for those in other countries. – Joe Aug 17 '10 at 22:29

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Specifically, steel cut oats look like little pellets, whereas rolled oats have the familiar flat shape from going through a steel roller. The rolled ones expose more surface area and therefore cook faster, but produce a different final texture. I do like the steel-cut ones better, but they take upwards of half an hour to cook. You can make a large batch and reheat it for 2-3 days if you like. I think some folks also use a pressure cooker to speed them up.

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Do you mean you like the steel cut ones better? – Rebekah Aug 17 '10 at 20:16
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They're coarser, so they have a better texture when cooked. Rolled oats are mushy and bland, even if you get the non-instant variety. Groats are a pain in the butt to cook: like millet, they take forever.

Steel cut oats are a nice compromise (technically steel cut groats). Get some yummy groaty flavor, but the prep time is much lower (a mere half hour, instead of a week or two for whole groats).

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Steel cut oats are also higher in fiber and some nutrients (the rollers remove some of the bran, where the fiber and some nutrients are). – Adam Shiemke Aug 17 '10 at 17:26
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@Adam Shiemke: Do you have a source for that? The link in @Michael Pryor's comment above claims that there is no difference (of course, it's lacking a source, too; the author just says "I looked it up"). – Rebekah Aug 17 '10 at 22:31
Upon further research: bobsredmill.com/steel-cut-oats.html vs. bobsredmill.com/regular-rolled-oats.html Same. Quaker is a bit lower in fiber, although their quick oats are the same as rolled/steel cut, which is not the vase for bob's. Looks like I was wrong (I compared the bob's steel cut with the Quaker rolled I had at hand). – Adam Shiemke Aug 18 '10 at 13:24
@Adam Shiemke: Thanks for checking on that. The serving size for the steel cut oats is 1/4 cup and the serving size on the rolled oats is 1/2 cup (and is 4 g larger), but perhaps they make the same amount of hot cereal? – Rebekah Aug 19 '10 at 12:57
@Rebekah Good catch, I didn't notice. If you compare the weights, the rolled are 4g more, so by weight, there might be more nutrient. The numbers aren't accurate enough to tell. – Adam Shiemke Aug 19 '10 at 13:36
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