This review is for Bob's Red Mill Steel Cut Oats, 24-ounce (Pack of 4). I purchased this in my search for a replacement for my other brand of "cracked n' toasted" oats that a big box store was no longer carrying.
The oats come in a branded resealable bag emblazoned with a lot of messaging on the front, including "an employee-owned company", "the 100% whole grain award winning cereal", and "the Golden Spurtle". What I especially liked about this bag is that there are a few transparent sections near the bottom that lets you see the actual steel cut oats inside. Looking inside the bag, the oats appear to be of high quality and there is minimal/no? sediment. The back side of the bag includes your standard Nutrition Facts, a brief blurb about the Golden Spurtle, and a couple of preparation methods (stovetop and traditional slow cooker).
Bob's Red Mill Steel Cut Oats are true steel cut oats that have that fantastic bite, texture, and inherent dietary benefits you would expect from steel cut oats. I performed a quick comparison of rolled, "cracked n' toasted", and Bob's steel cut oats using Nutrition Facts (normalized for serving size) and was surprised to find that Bob's steel cut oats provide almost double the calories, total fat, total carbohydrates, dietary fiber, total sugars, and proteins vs. an equivalent amount of rolled oats. I believe much of that is due to steel cut oats being almost 4x denser/compact than rolled oats with a side benefit of providing a longer sensation of being full.
My go-to prep method for steel cut oats is to add 1 cup water with 1/3 cup steel cut oats (3:1 ratio) to an Instant Pot, set it for five minutes high pressure on manual, and then natural release. Total hands-free cooking time from pressing the button to when the float valve drops is 15-20 minutes. Afterwards you can spice it up with a sprinkle of matcha, cookie crumbs (secret weakness), nuts, or even cereal (!). The result is a great bowl of steel cut oatmeal with a slight nutty flavor and almost "Q" texture to it that is an improvement over my previous go-to brand.
Overall, I would recommend Bob's Red Mill Steel Cut Oats as the gold standard for steel cut oats. They are high quality and are easy to use for a delicious bowl of oatmeal.
Oats
