Is Oat Milk an ultra-processed food?
Many brands of oat milk are ultra-processed foods. Many things need to be added to the beverage in order to make it behave like a dairy milk.
For example these are the ingredients for Oatly Barrista Edition:
Oat base (water, oats), low erucic acid rapeseed oil. Contains 2% or less of: dipotassium phosphate, calcium carbonate, tricalcium phosphate, sea salt, dicalcium phosphate, riboflavin, vitamin A, vitamin D2, vitamin B12.
These are the ingredients for Califa Farms Extra Creamy Oatmilk:
Oatmilk (Water, Oats), Sunflower Oil, Dipotassium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, Tricalcium Phosphate, Sea Salt, Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin D2.
Why make your own oat milk?
There are several good reasons to try making your own oat milk.
Homemade oat milk is much cheaper than purchased oat milk. Oats are incredibly cheap, even organic or sprouted versions. Once you purchase a bag of oats, you will be able to make many batches of oat milk, or use the remaining oats for other dishes. It is a great way to save money.
It is easy to make your own oat milk at home, and does not take very much time. If you keep the oats in your pantry, you do not have to worry about running to the store if you ran out of oat milk.
Unlike commercially manufactured oat milk, homemade oat milk is not an ultra-processed food. The only ingredients it requires are basic pantry staples. However, since homemade oat milk does not have the thickeners it will not behave the same way as commercial oat milk if you try and froth it for your coffee.
Equipment:
Blender
Tea towel or nut milk bag
Mixing bowl
Ingredients:
1 cup organic rolled oats
4 cups water
Directions:
Put the oats and the water in the blender.
Spread the – very clean – tea towel out over the top of the mixing bowl. Pour the contents of the blender over the towel to strain.
Let the mixture filter through the towel. Do not squeeze the towel.
You will probably want to run the liquid that is now in the mixing bowl through the towel a second time to strain it again.
Store your oatmilk in a glass container in the refrigerator, it will only keep for a few days. When stored in the fridge some sediment will occur in the bottom of the jar.
You may wish to add some vanilla extract or a sweetener.
Variations:
Add cinnamon. You can add a teaspoon of ground cinnamon to the blender to make it a cinnamon oat milk.
Pumpkin spice. Add a teaspoon of your favorite pumpkin spice blend to the blender, or make your own combination. Experiment with different combinations of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, or allspice.
Ingredients Notes:
Oats
I use sprouted oats from One Degree Organic Foods. I find them at Costco.