Creating this blog, and all the raw food recipes constantly has me on the hunt for interesting people that I can introduce you to. On a recent trip to the Mill City Farmer’s Market, I met Marty Glanville and her husband, Darrold. I was casually strolling through the booths, marveling at all of the wonderful products available at this organic market in Minneapolis, when Marty’s booth caught my eye. I did a double take. She was standing at a counter, putting oat groats into a hand crank mill. Out came flaked oats, that were organic, fresh and required no heat for processing! I was thrilled. Raw oats that would work in my raw food recipes!
Maybe this requires a little explanation. Since going raw,
I have missed flaked oats. I was always in search of a raw, organic alternative and here it was, staring me in the face. The best part was that I could do it myself! My mind started racing with all the possibilities.
I recently visited Marty and Darrold at their home in central Minnesota. Just off of the house, is the building that they mill in. Darrold personally sources all of the organic grain. He visits the farmers and finds the highest quality for their mill. I was presented with samples of the grains that they currently working with. There were quite a few different types of wheat, spelt, rye, and oats. Darrold is always looking for interesting grains and more will be added.
I asked Marty and Darrol
d how they got into this business at this point in life. Marty is a retired educator and Darrold has retired from the business world. This is how it started. Darrold was interested in learning how to make bread. After many unsuccessful (to his standards) attempts, he stumbled upon some freshly milled, organic wheat flour. It transformed his bread. Realizing that modern flour milling was stripping all of the nutrients and taste from the grain, his passion to return to more simple ways was ignited. The fresh milled grain taste different. They compare it to the taste of a tomato out of your garden vs one that has been shipped half way round the world.
Marty and Darrold personally grind all the
oats and flours. They produce small batches, to order. The mills that they use are not only functional, they are beautiful. Imported from Germany, made from beech wood, they carry the high standard of German engineering. You can order them from their website. I have one on my wish list. For now, I will be buying my oats from Sunrise Flour Mill.
I have already worked up a raw oatmeal that is divine. I will incorporating the oats into new flat bread recipes and also a granola recipe. Look for the recipes coming up this week.
You can find Marty and Darrold here: Sunrise Flour Mill
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I need to visit your site more often. Your writing is SO good!! You make what you talk about come alive like we’re there with you!!
I just got REALLY excited about eating oats again!!
I checked out their website, can you not order the ‘flaked oats’ from them? I only saw wheat flour as an option…
You can just drop her an email…she will definitely do the flaked oats. I have a big bag at home.
OMG! that is amazing, i need an oat flaker! Thanks for the info!
I’m saying!!! You understand my excitement!
I love the idea of grinding organic oats. It’s really great that they cared so much about their bread. Can’t wait for your up and coming oat recipes!
I like oats and oatmeal and am mostly raw. Also am an urban gardener. Thanks for this article. Now inspired to grow and looking to source here in nys and get one of those hand crank mills.
do you think it is necessary to soak the oats first for the ‘sprouted’ rather than ‘enzyme inhibitor’ effect?
For what I use these products for, soaking isn’t an option to get the texture I am looking for.
The raw oat grain has one of the highest contents of phytic acid among most other grains. Why do many raw foodist think that raw oats benefit our bodies? The should be soaked and better, sprouted.
Actually, according to my research, it is not true that raw oat has one of the highest contents of phytic acid. In fact, it is comprable to other grains. Soaking has not shown to be an effective way to reduce phytic acid. Also, raw oats contain phytase which is the enzyme that helps neutralize phytic acid. Oats have an amazing amount of health benefits. Used in moderation, I believe that the benefits are very important. If you are concerned, you can also take an probiotic when you eat raw oats. There is a lot of information out there including scientific studies that show that soaking the oats does not make a significant difference. I suggest that if people are concerned about this, they check out several sources and make their decision after educating themselves. It is interesting to note that phytic acid has a nutritive aspect. It is the storage form for phosphorous and also inositol.
I live in Germany, where having your own grain mill and maybe flaker is not uncommon. I’ve had a flaker for about 6 years. Be aware that there are two varieties of Oats which are commonly grown: ‘the common oat’ (avena sativa) and ‘naked or hulless oats’ (avena nuda). Avena sativa accounts for probably about 98% of the own grown. The hulls in “hulless” oats grow non-attached to the kernel, so that they can be separated without removing any of the kernel. Not so with common oats, the hulls are firmly attached and must be stripped off, removing part of the grain in the process, so avena sativa kernels are no longer whole grain. Only avena nuda kernels are still whole grain oats.
Also, and maybe more importantly, avena sativa kernels are routinely “thermically stabilized”, i.e. pasturized to increased shelf life, even if they’re organic (this is because oats have much more fat than other grain and hence tend to become rancid if not “thermically stabilized”). Hulless oats (which used to be the main oat crop in Europe before commercialized farming became money instead of people oriented) are grown mainly for the health food market and are usually not thermically stabilized, and hence are usually the only true raw oat to be had. The quick test to see if your oats are indeed raw is just to try and sprout them. If they don’t sprout, then they’ve been thermically stabilized. Pre-flaked oats are almost always not only thermically stabilized, but also steamed and pressed to get them to have that uniform shape and size (growing up as a child in the USA I thought that oats grew round and flat!). Of course, if they’re labeled raw and you trust the manufacturer, that would be a different story.
My “second breakfast” a couple hours after having my daily one liter of green smoothie is a bowl of freshly flaked raw avena nuda oats with a diced apple and just water…no need to use any kind of mylk, since the freshly rolled oats make a nice oat mylk with the water all by themselves.
cheers,
-j
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