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Oats (Avena sativa), like wheat, are members of the grass family Poaceae. As plants, they are widespread, sometimes invasive, inhabiting roadside ditches, unused garden plots, and patches of open space. Culinarily, they are popular in a coarsely chopped form known as oatmeal, which is used in breakfast porridge, oatmeal raisin cookies, as a binder for meatballs, or a topper for crumbly desserts. One thing oats are not commonly used for? Bread. One might ask – why?
Nature’s Superglue
Of all professions in the food business, grain-dependent bakers and brewers have the greatest opportunity and incentive to explore the impact of using a variety of cereal grains and grain-like ingredients in their products. While wheat is the backbone of baking, and barley is the workhorse of brewing, other grains like rye and corn are recurring characters. However, oats, an otherwise relatively well-known grain, appears less frequently than anticipated, given the ubiquity of oatmeal. A brief skim through Internet forums reveals why: oats behave badly – as I describe further below. (I should note the rye behaves just as badly as oats, but this is balanced by its unique, robust flavor and the yeast-boosting qualities it possesses). To understand why, we need to take a short detour into the world of plant biochemistry.
Just as nations keep strategic reserves of essential resources on hand for emergencies, all plants have a strategic reserve of protein called “storage protein.” This protein reserve is used by plants to support a variety of functions important to survival – reinforcing the cell wall, enabling photosynthesis, catalyzing energetic and enzymatic reactions, and acting as antipathogenic agents. Seeds are natural reservoirs of storage protein. The most widely discussed storage protein is gluten, which comprises about 75-85% of the protein in wheat. Gluten is a structural wunderkind, expressing the properties of stretchiness (extensibility in baking parlance) and springiness (elasticity) which make bread as we know it possible – gluten “nets” in well-kneaded dough capture gases generated by natural or chemical leavens and enable the bread to rise. Without these properties, all breads would be flatbreads.
Oat protein, by contrast, is roughly 50-80% globulins, a wide class of proteins most commonly associated, in the plant kingdom, with beans. Oat globulins are neither stretchy nor springy. They are, however, quite sticky. Oats also contain substantially more fat than wheat – about 6-8% versus 1-2% in wheat – and more soluble fiber than any other cereal. This raises the very real possibility of a slimy, sticky mess when working with oats, even when the preparation is carefully planned and executed. Bakers contend with concrete-like accretions on every surface. Brewers suffer clogged valves, tubes, and filters. The community at large seems to have determined that the overall effort is not worth the reward, as oat’s contributions to flavor and texture are subtle and can be achieved in other ways. Reasonable individuals tend to keep oats confined to their porridge bowls.
The Recipe
However, we’re not here to make porridge. We are not reasonable. We’re here to see if it is possible to make bread, as we know it, from oats.
And it turns out, you can, if you’re willing to toy with tradition a bit. Which we’ve already done with The Whole Wheat Loaf (adding malt powder), but we’re taking it to the next level – adding the missing gluten back into the equation.
For that, we need to use gluten flour, often found labeled as vital wheat gluten. This is essentially a protein extract of wheat flour, consisting of 70-80% pure gluten. As this is contributing flour mass to the dough, we also need to increase water to hit our target of 80% hydration for whole grains. The target for gluten addition is on the high side of 10% of the total flour mass – this mimics the gluten content of The Reference Loaf.
After some trial and error, I came up with the following formula, which resulted in a beautiful little pan loaf which is light, flavorful, and emphatically not a dense, chewy brick. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
The Ingredients
| Ingredient | Weight (g) | Percentage (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Oat Flour | 50 | 100 |
| Water | 50 | 100 |
| Active Yeast | 0.75 (~1/4 tsp) | 1.5 |
| Ingredient | Weight (g) | Percentage (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Poolish (everything above) | ||
| Water | 227 (202+25) | 90.8 |
| Oat Flour | 250 | 100 |
| Vital Wheat Gluten (Gluten Flour) | 46 | 18.4 |
| Salt | 8 | 3.2 |
| Diastatic Malt | 1/2 tsp | ~ |
| Ingredient | Weight (g) | Percentage (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Total Flour | 346 | 100 |
| Water | 277 | 80 |
| Salt | 8 | 2.3 |
Follow the recipe steps outlined in The Whole Wheat Loaf. Add the gluten flour with the oat flour at time of initial mix.
Analysis
- Total dough weight: 631g
- Oat flour protein content: 12.5%
- Oat flour starch content: 59.4%
- Oat flour fiber content: 9.4%
- Oat flour fat content: 6.25%
- Crumb: Tight
- Crust: Thin, crispy
- Flavor: mild, sweet, cooling
