50 lbs of oat bran -- what to do?

[aeschylus]

our local food co-op is closing down and as a result I've inherited a 50-lb bag of oat bran.. we're planning on giving some of it away but I'd like to use it in baking as well. Anyone have any favorite whole wheat/oat bran bread recipes that have worked well for them? Tips on subbing in oat bran to other bread recipes? Oat bran crackers, maybe?

Also: it occurred to me that most of the low-carb flour tortillas I've seen on supermarket shelves are made in large part with oat bran. Has anyone out there ever tried making their own? I hopefully will get around to it later this week and report back on the results...

ps. a search pulled up this nytimes article from March 1989, declaring oat bran to be the "mexican food of 88/89"

[Tri2Cook]

My one and only daily food habit is a bowl of oatmeal with a scoop of psyllium all bran buds added. I eat that pretty much every morning for breakfast so I'd probably start adding a scoop of oat bran to it as well... but it would take a really long time to use up 50 lbs. that way. I suppose I might switch to an oat bran porridge instead of the oatmeal if I had that much of it sitting around. Probably not though, I like a little chew to my oats.

[DanM]

Peter Reinhart has a great oat bran bread formula in his Whole Grain Breads that is simply delicious for PB&J sandwhiches. He calls it a broom bread due to its powers as an all natural colonic. If you do not have a copy of the book, the publisher made parts of it available on Google Books.

http://books.google.com/books?id=JJrYTmaI0...nhart#PPA109,M1

Good Luck.

Dan

Edited January 5, 2009 by DanM (log)

[Lora]

I generally use pancakes to absorb my leftover odd grains and flours. I find that I can throw in pretty much anything if I keep it to no more than 25% of the dry ingredients.

I bake a lot, and I am often throwing leftovers into breads, muffins, etc. Usually the result is fine, and if it's different than usual, the "hot homemade bread product" factor trumps any weirdness. If in doubt, use no more than a quarter cup in a recipe and see what happens. It will still take a while, but a quarter cup into most of the things you bake will certainly chip away at it.

[PopsicleToze]

Wish I could help but I don't know that I've ever purchased oat bran -- but I do use wheat bran and it needs to be refrigerated after opening. Is that the case with oat bran? If so, I hope you have an extra refrigerator in the garage.

[andiesenji]

Oat bran combines nicely with apples or applesauce and can be substituted for part of the flour in all quick breads: banana, pumpkin, date, apple/cranberry and etc.

You do have to add a bit of extra liquid - I usually figure 1/4 cup of liquid per cup of oat bran but it can be an egg or equivalent.

I'm not at home at present so do not have access to all of the recipes on my home computer but there are many recipes on the internet.

I second the vote for Peter Reinhart's oat bran bread.

I've used this basic mix many times - I store it in the fridge.

Oat bran baking mix.

Edited January 8, 2009 by andiesenji (log)

[baroness]

I just found this muffin recipe with 1 cup of oat bran: Recipe!

[aeschylus]

Reinhart's oat bran bread is definitely on the list for my next bake day!!

In the meantime, I tried an oat bran tortilla recipe, adapted from Homesick Texan's recipe. The results were delicious, although they reminded me much more of roti or pita-style flatbreads rather than tortillas (the flavor-profile was much more nutty and wheat-y than I associate with Mexican cuisine).

Oat Bran Flatbreads:

1 cup biscuit flour (or 1 cup white flour + 1.5 tsp baking powder and 2 tsp salt)

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup oat bran

3 tsp vegetable oil

1/2 cup whole milk

1 cup boiling water

Add boiling water to oat bran, stir. and let stand for a while. Right before you add the mixture to the flour,

Mix together flours, salt if desired and oil.

Stir milk and about 1 and 1/4 cups more lukewarm water into the oat bran mixture. Add to flour mixture and stir to combine. Mix until well-blended, and let rest for around 10 minutes in the bowl.

Form into two logs. divide each into 6-8 pieces, and roll into balls with your hands. Let rest 10 minutes on a plate.

Heat a cast iron griddle or frying pan over medium heat. On a well-floured surface, roll out the dough balls to around 8" in diameter (you will probably have to flour each ball as well as you roll them out to keep from sticking). Cook on each side until the blisters are just beginning to deeply brown or blacken. You will probably have to fiddle with the temperature over the course of cooking the whole batch. It's also easier to fold the rolled-out flatbreads into quarters, put them folded flat on the pan and then unfold them, rather than transferring them whole. Keep warm in a foil or towel-covered plate, lasts a few days in the fridge or freeze well.