Part 21

=Oatmeals= are the most nutritious cereals. The oat contains more fat than other grains and a larger proportion of protein. It is, therefore, the best adapted to sustain life in the proportion of nutrient elements. On account of the fat, oats are especially well adapted for a breakfast food in winter. Another advantage oatmeal, or rolled oats, have as a breakfast food is in their laxative tendency, due to the coarse shell of the kernel.

Oat breakfast foods keep longer than the foods made from wheat and rice.

There are no malts, or any mixtures in the oat preparations. The difference between the various oatmeal breakfast foods is in their manner of preparation. They all contain the entire grain, with the exception of the husk. They are simply the ground or crushed oat. In preparing the oats before grinding, the outer hull is removed, the fuzzy coating of the berry itself is scoured off, the ends of the berry, particularly the end containing the germ, which is usually the place of deposit for insect eggs, is scoured, and the bitter tip end of the oat berry is likewise removed.

Rolled oats consist of the whole berry of the oat, ground into a coarse meal, either between millstones, or, in the case of the so called “steel cut” oatmeal, cut with sharp steel knives across the sections of the whole oat groat.

Quaker Oats consist of the whole groat, which, after steaming in order to soften, have been passed between hot steel rolls, somewhat like a mangle in a laundry, and crushed into large, thin, partially cooked flakes. The oats are then further cooked by an open pan drying process. This roasting process insures that all germ life is exterminated, renders the product capable of quicker preparation for the table and the roasting causes the oil cells to release their contents, thereby producing what is termed the “nut flavor,” which is not present in the old fashioned type of oat product.

Both Rolled Oats and Quaker Oats are now partially cooked in their preparation but the starch cells must be thoroughly broken and they should be cooked at least forty-five minutes in a double boiler; or, a good way to prepare the porridge, is to bring it to the boiling point at night, let it stand covered over night and then cook it twenty to thirty minutes in the morning. Another method of cooking is to bring the porridge to the boiling point and then leave it in a fireless cooker over night.

The great fault in the preparation of any breakfast food is in not cooking it sufficiently to break the starch cells.

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=Puffed Rice= is made from a good quality of finished rice. The process is a peculiar one, the outer covering, or bran, is removed and then the product is literally “shot from guns;” that is, a quantity of the rice is placed in metal retorts, revolved slowly in an oven, at high temperature, until the pressure of steam, as shown by gauge on the gun, indicates that the steam, generated slowly by the moisture within the grain itself, has thoroughly softened the starch cells. The gun retort is pointed into a wire cage and the cap which closes one end is removed, permitting an inrush of cold air. This cold, on striking the hot steam, causes expansion, which amounts practically to an explosion. The expansion of steam within each starch cell completely shatters the cell, causing the grain to expand to eight times its original size. It rushes out of the gun and into the cage with great force, after which it is screened to remove all scorched or imperfectly puffed grains.

This process dextrinizes a portion of the starch and also very materially increases the amount of soluble material as against the original proportion in the grain.

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=Puffed Wheat= is manufactured from Durum, or macaroni wheat, of the very highest grade. This is a very hard, glutinous grain. It is pearled in order to thoroughly clean and take off the outer covering of bran. It then goes through a puffing process, identical with that of Puffed Rice. The chemical changes are very similar to those of puffed rice.

Both Puffed Rice and Puffed Wheat are more digestible than in the original grain state. They are valuable foods for invalids.

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=Stale Bread.= A food which tastes much like a prepared breakfast food, but is cheaper, may be made by dipping stale bread into molasses and water, drying it in the oven for several hours, and then crushing it. It is then ready to serve with cream. This is a palatable way to use up stale bread.

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=Crackers and Milk or Bread and Milk.= As noted by above table, crackers are similar to breakfast foods in nutrient elements, and with milk make a good food for breakfast, or a good luncheon. Business men, and others who eat hurriedly and return immediately to work, will do well to substitute crackers and milk, or bread and milk, for the piece of pie, which often constitutes a busy man’s lunch.

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According to investigations made by the United States Agriculture Experiment Station, cereal coffees are made of parched grains. A few contain a little true coffee, but for the most part they are made of parched wheat, barley, etc., or of grain mixed with wheat middlings, pea hulls, or corn cobs. There is no objection to any of these mixtures providing they are clean. The cereal coffees, as seen by the following table, contain no more nourishment than the true coffee, but they are probably more easily digested; only a very little of the soluble starch passes into the water. Coffee and tea are not taken for their nutrition, but for their stimulating effect upon the nerves; and, if stimulation is desired, the cereal coffees fall short.

TABLE VII.

Composition of cereal-coffee infusion and other beverages.

————————————————————————————————————+—————+———————+———+————————+————— | | | |Carbo- | Fuel Kind of Beverage |Water|Protein|Fat|hydrates|Value | | | | | per | | | | |Pound ————————————————————————————————————+—————+———————+———+————————+————— Commercial cereal coffee (0.5 ounce | | | | | to 1 pint water) | 98.2| 0.2 | | 1.4 | 30 Parched-corn coffee (1.6 ounces to 1| | | | | pint water) | 99.5| 0.2 | | .5 | 13 Oatmeal water (1 ounce to 1 pint | | | | | water) | 99.7| 0.3 | | .3 | 11 Coffee (1 ounce to 1 pint water) | 98.9| .2 | | .7 | 16 Tea (0.5 ounce to 1 pint water) | 99.5| .2 | | .6 | 15 Chocolate (0.5 ounce to 1 pint milk)| 84.5| 3.8 |4.7| 6.0 | 365 Cocoa (0.5 ounce to 1 pint water) | 97.1| .6 | .9| 1.1 | 65 Skimmed milk | 88.8| 4.0 |1.8| 5.4 | 170 ————————————————————————————————————+—————+———————+———+————————+—————

By reference to table VII it will be seen that cocoa and skimmed milk contain much more nutrition than any of the coffees. Their chief value is that they furnish a warm drink with the meal. They should not be too hot.

Barley or wheat, mixed with a little molasses, parched in the oven, and then ground, makes about the same mixture as the cereal coffee.

The old fashioned crust coffee, made from bread crusts, toasted in the oven, is just as nutritious as any of the coffees and has the advantage of being cheaper.

Barley water and oat water, made by boiling the grain thoroughly and then straining, are nourishing foods for invalids and children. They are often used as drinks by athletes and manual laborers, as they have the advantage of both quenching thirst and supplying energy.

Gruels are made in the same way, only strained through a sieve. This process allows more of the starch to pass with the water.

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