Who sells unstabilized (unsteamed, truly raw) oats in the U.S.?
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3I've voted to close this because "shopping" questions are difficult to answer, due to many possible answers and suppliers may change over time.– EricaCommented Apr 2, 2019 at 13:13
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2As the grain is effectively a seed ... I'd say look at Southern States, Tractor Supply or other farm-supply stores.– JoeCommented Apr 2, 2019 at 14:51
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@Erica By definition, unstabilized oats are rolled but not steamed.– CindyCommented Apr 2, 2019 at 18:41
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1@Joe I think you're on the right track. And I'm not sure, if found, they would be for human consumption.– CindyCommented Apr 2, 2019 at 18:42
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@Erica : the question wasn't about rolled oats. My understanding is that rolled oats would always be steamed first. The linked question has a follow-up comment asking about rolled unsteamed groats, but that wasn't part of the question here. (also possibly worth mentioning -- oats sold for seed likely have the hull still on, whereas buying 'groats' would have it removed)– JoeCommented Apr 3, 2019 at 15:28
1 Answer
Oats from Tractor supply are definitely uncooked (about $15 for 50 Lb). I've planted them to grow cat grass for years. Unfortunately, they are also not hulled. Hulling is usually done by hurling the oats at a steel wall at about 70mph, then separating oat from empty hull and oats still with hull by fractionating through a stream of air. Naturally, buoyancy depends on a groat's size, as well as its density. It's a tricky task to run at home. You can make a centrifuge out of an old angle grinder, with an impeller designed to get the oats up to speed, but the air driven density separation is quite hard to mimic with only an 8 foot ceiling. There are other ways the separation can be accomplished, but dry oats tend to build up quite a static charge when you roll them around. For whole, uncooked, dehulled oat groats you'll want either a food coop or a health food store. At about $1.50 a pound you can usually do as well or better than the 50Lb sacks available through Amazon.