Malt of the Month: Oats

Malty oat shaved ice with jujube & apple sorbet, Asian pear and pecans at Cadence Restaurant.

Why Malted Oats?

Loaded with fiber and other important nutrients, oats offer a heart-healthy, delicious, and surprisingly versatile option for any diet. Oats are also a workhorse: They help the farmer by suppressing weeds and the environment by producing abundant biomass for storing carbon. We love malting oats to add depth of flavor and sweetness. They are “sticky” and sometimes hard to process in the malthouse, but the end result is worth the extra time and care required during steeping and germination. Pale Oat Malt and Toasted Oats can be orderd in 55lb, 27.5lb, and 1.5lb qantities (milled or whole kernel) through our online store.

Hulless oat flour contributes lightness and dynamic flavor to baked goods.

Our Sources

Small Valley Milling (Halifax, PA) organic “Gehl” hullless oats. Developed in Canada, Gehl is the first naked oat free of surface hairs, or trichomes, which present a major obstacle in oat harvesting and processing.

We are also currently processing “Streaker” hulless oats from Castle Valley Mill (Doylestown, PA) and some hulled oats from farmer Kelsey Bower (Hughesville, PA). They hulled varieties are easier to handle in the malthouse and have distinct flavor relative to hulless varieties, but they can present some challenges in the brewhouse during milling since the hull material is not very friable.

Malty Oat Milk Recipe

On a stovetop over medium heat or 350F oven, toast ½ c Pale Oat Malt (hulless) w/ your favorite whole spices (e.g. cinnamon stick, black peppercorn). Transfer to a cup and pour 2 c filtered water, milk, or a combination of the two over the oats & spices. Steep overnight. If you have a blender, remove any large spices and blend the oat-y liquid to break down the grains. If you don’t have a blender, whisk or shake in a sealed container. Strain through a sifter or cheesecloth, pressing the malty juices from the oats. Season with malt syrup or maple syrup plus salt to taste. You can drink the oat milk on its own, pour over Deer Creek Malty Granola (available at farmers markets), or incorporate into a recipe calling for milk.

Menu Highlight: malty oat shaved ice w/ jujube & apple sorbet

For dessert at Cadence Restaurant in Philadelphia, milk-free malty oat ice is frozen in blocks and shaved, then served with jujube (Evergreen Farm, NJ) & apple (Lancaster Co.) sorbet, plus fresh Asian pears (also Evergreen Farm, NJ) and sumac pecans.

Malted tea cake mix here with apple & date puree.

At the Market

Freshly milled hulless oat flour makes up 1/3 of the total flour in March’s Malted Tea Cake mixes. For add-ins check out our friends at Beechwood Orchards & Frecon for apple sauce and butter plus Goose Lane Egg Farm and Rineer Family farm for carrots. Seek out canola or sunflower oil from Susquehanna Mills and of course eggs from your favorite local vendor. You can find us at Rittenhouse Square, Bryn Mawr, Downingtown, Malvern, and West Reading farmers markets in March.