Groat (grain)

Not to be confused with the groat coin, or the maize porridge grits.

Groat

Barley groats
Details
Type	Whole grain
Main ingredient(s)	any grains such as oats, wheat, barley, millet or rye etc.
Variations	Bulgur

Groats (or in some cases, "berries") are the hulled kernels of various cereal grains such as oat, wheat, and rye. Groats are whole grains that include the cereal germ and fiber-rich bran portion of the grain as well as the endosperm (which is the usual product of milling).

Groats can also be produced from pseudocereal seeds such as buckwheat.

Culinary uses

Groats are nutritious but hard to chew, so they are often soaked before cooking. Groats are used in soups and porridges: steel-cut oats is simply another name for sliced oat groats.

Groats of many cereals are the basis of kasha, a porridge-like staple meal of Eastern Europe and Eurasia. In North America kasha or kashi usually refers to roasted buckwheat groats in particular.

In North India, wheat groats are known as dalia and are commonly prepared with milk into a sweet porridge or with vegetables and spices into salty preparations.

Parboiled and cut durum wheat groats, known as bulgur, are an essential ingredient of many Middle Eastern dishes such as mansaf and tabbouleh.

Groats are also used in some sausages such as black puddings. A traditional dish from the Black Country in England is groaty pudding (not to be confused with groats pudding). Groaty pudding is made from soaked groats, leeks, onions, beef and beef stock, and baked for up to 16 hours; it is a traditional meal on Guy Fawkes Night.

Production

From the top: fine, medium and coarsely cut oats groats (i.e. steel-cut oats)
Bottom: Uncut oat groats

The grain is cleaned, sorted by grain size and peeled (if necessary) before being husked. Additionally, the grains can be sliced on a "Groat Cutter" which can be adjusted to cut fine, medium or coarse groats. Regardless, thereafter the groats are freed from any adhering parts of the shell by a brushing machine. In the case of cut groats their fragments are sorted by size by sieving.

Types of groats

• Oat groats: these are a good source of avenanthramide.
• Millet groats
• Wheat groats, e.g. durum wheat groats like bulgur
• Buckwheat groats

See also

• Bulgur
• Kasha
• List of porridges
• Steel-cut oats