Is there a way to properly steel-cut oats yourself?

Question

I'm fond of porridge for breakfast. This used to have something of a weirdo reputation here in Germany, but actually seems to be taking off in popularity recently.

Trouble is, everything I was able to buy so far labelled Porridge/Haferbrei turned out to be, in essence, ridiculously overpriced rolled oats. Which is funny, because a) rolled oats in many different varieties have always been easy to come by, and b) they are IMO greatly inferior to the steel-cut variant, when it comes to making porridge.

Steel-cut oats, alas, I only ever find sold as a specialty cooking ingredient (Hafergrütze) and in pitiably small quantities. Hence I have so far ordered a lot of the stuff from abroad, but I find it a bit ridiculous to order staple food from the internet.

What is again relatively easy to find are whole oat grains. I have already tried processing these to steel-cut myself in various ways, but with little success – my immersion blender will grind half of the stuff to flour while there are still lots of untouched grains left, and with a knife it takes forever to get through a noteworthy amount.

Am I missing some trick that would give a decent consistency, or is it just not feasible to do at home?

Answer 1

Seems like you should consider investing in a grain mill.

They come in a wide variety of options from manual to electric and they have different settings for how fine a grind you can get. While many of them may not grind as coarse as needed for cereals, there are many, particularly the manual mills, that do.

You probably want a burr-style mill... they're essentially the same thing as most pepper mills or good-quality coffee mills. Find one that does very coarse grain milling... perhaps check with homebrewing groups to see which they recommend, as milling is part of the brewing process.

I'm not sure you'll get the same results as a true steel cut, as it's a factory process but it will certainly be more consistent than your current results.

Answer 2

Soak the groats in water for a few hours. Drain and dry. Use your fingers to peel off the hulls. Oatmeal typically is cut into three pieces, so try using a nut chopper device - the one with the glass container over a steel chopper that is manipulated by your hand pressing down. Using a blender creates a flour, as you posted, and that is lovely for special baked breads! Bon appetit!

Answer 3

Having just moved to the Netherlands, I find myself in a similar situation. While certainly one of the less common form of oats in Canada, steel cut oats were available in pretty much every grocery store. Here, I cannot find anyone who has even heard of them.

In any case, this site here:

https://www.leaf.tv/articles/how-to-cut-steel-cut-oats/

Suggests using a food processor. I think it makes sense that it would work better. Food processors are designed for chopping (more than a blender or immersion blender) so I have some hope it will work better than an immersion, however, I am still trying to source a food processor to test.