This is to stop enzymes breaking down the fats in the oats, which would cause rapid spoilage. Oats can be rolled to make larger oat flakes, or cut first before rolling to make quick or instant oats.

Instead, you can experiment with tasty oatmeal toppings like honey, chocolate, peanut butter, orange zest, coconut flakes ... If your porridge uses oats as the main ingredient, it's called oatmeal.

To make rolled oats, whole oats are steamed and dehusked and then rolled into flat flakes under heavy rollers, giving them a unique shape. Also known as Irish oats, steel-cut oats are chopped into two ...

Whole oat flakes are not cut before they are rolled, so they remain the bulkiest of the rolled oats. Oats are frequently used as a cooking ingredient, as in haggis and some varieties of sausage ...