After last weeks Real Food Twitter Party (and yes, I realize I never re-cap’d it – tweetchat and twitter now won’t let me go back that far and swipe the tweets I’d like to) I thought I’d try some spelt flakes out for breakfast instead of our traditional oatmeal. The reason being, that it’s currently being debated whether or not soaking just overnight releases the anti-nutrients in the oats. Some very knowledgeable folks are saying it takes much longer and since I’m not as knowledgeable, I think I’ll take their word for it until I’m able to really research it myself.
Anyways…..so I thought I’d try out spelt flakes.
Now to soak rolled grains like this, you just add 2 Tbsp of whey, yogurt, kefir, vinegar, etc. to one cup of warm water and add in one cup of rolled grains. One cup is quite plenty for myself and my 3 year old, and we usually have some leftover. Once mixed together, keep in a warm spot overnight or up to 24 hours.
(I’ve been keeping my soaked, fermented, and cultured products in my oven with the light on to keep them warm since it’s so cold right now here in Michigan. L to R soaked spelt flakes, sourdough starter, water kefir w/ grains, water kefir w/blueberries)
Once they’ve soaked at least overnight, they’re ready to use!
This next step is one of personal preference. I rinse it out in a colander before cooking. You don’t have to, and many people do not, but I find that I like the flavor much better if I can rinse out the acidic taste! 
Once I rinse them out, I place them in a saucepan with about 3/4 – 1 cup water.
I cooked these for about 3 minutes or so, until the water was gone. Though I am wondering if I should have cooked them at a lower temp longer to help with the chewiness. Hmmmm….thoughts anyone? Or maybe I’ll try again next week!
Our favorite toppings include raisins, chopped ‘crispy’ almonds, some butter, raw cream, and a bit of maple syrup.
Level of difficulty – Easy
Cost – $.52 plain (for 1 cup or 2 servings) $1.00 with toppings
Time – about 1 minute prep time the night before, 8-24 hours soaking time
Taste – Wheaty and a bit chewy, but tolerable. Much better w/ the toppings and a bit more syrup.
Donielle Baker
My dinner makeover, from processed foods to healthy fare
So as silly as it is, it never occurred to me to rinse my grains after soaking. I could only stomach a few bites of the oats I soaked overnight the last time I tried it. I think rinsing the acid off would make a positive difference!
@AbbyJ, Ooo, try it again! Using whey isn’t as bad, but I couldn’t stand it made with yogurt and not rinsed!
quick question…can keifer that you use in milk make water keifer as well?
@Heather, Yes. I haven’t tried it myself, but you can convert them. Just rinse off the milk kefir and place in sugar water.
They won’t live as long and will probably not multiply and will eventually die, but if you have excess dairy grains – why not?!
I always try to soak our oats for about 24 hours, do you think that is enough? I’m not on twitter, but I had read that oats are one of the highest phytic acid criminals :). Let us know when you do your research!
Rami Nagel, author of “Cure Tooth Decay” said that the people Dr. Price studied in Scotland who ate a lot of oats soaked their oats for a long time — I think he said a few days up to a week or two. Kind of like the people in Latin America who soaked the corn for 1-2 weeks for tortillas and tamales.
Rami also said that the oats don’t contain any phytase so you have to add a little wheat flour to it when soaking. Amanda Rose says the same thing.
The other thing Rami said about oats is that the people Weston Price studied used to GERMINATE their oats, and then they would soak them. So it’s like using sprouted flour and then soaking that in sourdough — instead of just using sprouted flour or just using sourdough.
Our modern oats are heat-treated, kind of like the “raw” almonds that are actually pasteurized. So they are not sprouted.
Rami brought all of this up because he saw that his own daughter had trouble with oats. She had perfect teeth and then started eating oatmeal as a toddler and her teeth started to decay — even though they were dutifully soaking the oatmeal.
So I think it really depends on your own level of health and how much you have in your nutrient stores. If you are really trying to rebuild health, or say, reverse cavities, you might want to forgo oats. If you are fine and have no tooth decay or other issues, I think oats are fine. But I am now soaking for 24 hours and I do add some wheat flour to the soak.
Donielle, where do you buy spelt flakes? Or do you flake it yourself? How?
@Ann Marie @ CHEESESLAVE, Rami is the one I first heard it from too after reading both his books.
And I found spelt flakes at our local health food store. No one could tell me if they had been heat treated though, so I might have to do some calling around in that aspect. One day I’d love to be able to roll my own though! Then I could sprout them before rolling.
And I think you’re right about how some people could handle it while others can’t. The way I figure it, I need all the nutrients I can get while I’m breastfeeding, so I’ll probably go easy on the oats for awhile. Which is a bummer, because it’s one of our favorite breakfasts now what with our raw cream, maple syrup, and cultured butter! Using them once in awhile I should be fine (they’re actually supposed to help with milk supply) but I’ll work on finding different breakfast options for now.
Interesting…I’m about to embark on my first soaked grain adventure! Well, sprouting. We’ll see how it goes!
@Kate, Ooo, I haven’t delved into sprouting yet! Good luck!
Donielle –
In many Latin American countries they eat Arroz con Leche. It tastes a lot like oatmeal. It’s basically rice (which I soak; and I use short grain brown rice instead of white rice) with milk and/or cream and butter (you can add more butter and cream to taste), and some honey or maple syrup, plus cinnamon if you like it. Delicious! I put a recipe out in my menu mailer. I’ll send you a copy.
Ann Marie
@Ann Marie @ CHEESESLAVE, Oops! I meant to say in many Latin American countries they eat it for breakfast. Some do, and almost all Latin American countries make it for dessert as well.
Also in Mexico, they love Menudo for breakfast — a tripe (cow stomach) stew. I guess you won’t be eating that any time soon. 😉
I have spelt flour and buy spelt tortillas and also my new favorite cereal is spelt flakes (think corn flakes but with organic spelt and fruit juice for the sweetener). I put a bit of raw honey on top, yummy!!! I LOVE spelt!
We’re mexican and loooove arroz con leche… menudo is one of my faves… depending on who makes it 😉
I am going to try this! I have never fermented anything before but my sister does it now since her kids experienced tooth decay. I am glad you suggested putting them in the oven…I didn’t think of that and gave up. Yay for sense! Do you know why fermenting works or is beneficial? Can you ferment all grains? What else?
@Amanda, You can soak all grains! The acidic medium (whey, kefir, yogurt, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice) helps to break down the phytic acid in the grain itself, allowing the body to absorb all of the nutrients it consumes.
You can also find soaked flour recipes, but I’m not a huge fan. i do like the natural fermented sourdough recipes though and once I get back to making bread, that’s the route we’re going. 🙂
Hi there,
I just got spelt flakes with the intention of making cerial; I’m adding pepitas, dried cranberries and dates and soaking overnight in yogurt (mundella, its awesome); my question is whether the cooking part necessary to get the full nutrient benefit? Cheers
Dom
@Dom, Well, the cooking definitely makes them a lot more palatable for sure and heat does in fact help reduce the phytic acid as well.
I tried this but my spelt flakes turned into mush after soaking overnight
Were they instant or rolled spelt? Rolled spelt flakes shouldn’t get mushy, though they will be soft as they absorb some moisture.