Editing Oat (section)

=== Processing ===

[[File:Oatmeal.jpg|thumb|upright|Fully-processed [[porridge]] oats, ready to cook ]]

Harvested oats go through multiple stages of milling. The first stage is cleaning, to remove seeds of other plants, stones and any other extraneous materials. Next is dehulling to remove the indigestible bran, leaving the seed or "[[Groat (grain)|groat]]". Heating denatures [[enzyme]]s in the seed that would make it go sour or rancid; the grain is then dried to minimise the risk of spoilage by bacteria and fungi. There may follow numerous stages of cutting or grinding the grain, depending on which sort of product is required. For oatmeal (oat flour), the grain is ground to a specified fineness. For home use such as making [[porridge]], oats are often rolled flat to make them quicker to cook.<ref name="Decker-2014">{{cite journal |last1=Decker |first1=Eric A. |last2=Rose |first2=Devin J. |last3=Stewart |first3=Derek |title=Processing of oats and the impact of processing operations on nutrition and health benefits |journal=British Journal of Nutrition |volume=112 |issue=S2 |date=2014 |doi=10.1017/S000711451400227X |pages=S58–S64 |pmid=25267246 }}</ref>

Oat flour can be ground for small scale use by pulsing [[rolled oats]] or old-fashioned (not quick) oats in a [[food processor]] or spice mill.<ref name="Galvin-2011">{{cite book |last1=Galvin |first1=Meg |last2=Romine |first2=Stepfanie |title=The SparkPeople Cookbook |publisher=[[Hay House]] |publication-place=Carlsbad, California |date=2011 |isbn=978-1-4019-3132-2 |oclc=709682714 |page=98 }}</ref>