Eat Your Oats [But Gelatinize Them First]

My oats on a cookie sheet, ready for the oven.

Something that didn't occur to me while getting ready for today's Oatmeal Stout was the fact that oats, purchased in bulk at the market and not at the local home brew shop, aren't out-of-the-package ready for mashing.

So, remember, with oats, that they need to be gelatinize first. And no, I didn't know what that meant at first either. Per Wikipedia:

Starch gelatinization is a process that breaks down the intermolecular bonds of starch molecules in the presence of water and heat, allowing the hydrogen bonding sites (the hydroxyl hydrogen and oxygen) to engage more water.

So in order for to the oats to take on water and give out flavor, you need to cook them: 20 minutes at 350F, but don't forget to turn them once or twice.