Oatmeal Stout

I'm preparing to brew Jamil's Oatmeal Stout recipe:

http://beerdujour.com/Recipes/Jamil/JamilsOatmealStout.htm

This is my first stout and I had a couple of questions:

1) In Brewing Classic Styles they suggest to toast the flaked Oats at 300 deg F. How long roughly should this take? Any downside to trying this (stuck sparges or lower conversion)?

2) I was going to add 0.3 lbs of flaked barley to the mash--just to give some additional complexity and head. Any problem with mixing flaked oats and flaked barley? From what I've read these act similarly but not identically as components of stouts but I've not come across any recipe that mixed them.

3) The recipe calls for a mashout--I normally skip this and just heat the first runnings. Any reason Mashout might be especially important for this recipe (to keep the slight sweetness?)? I normally do two sparges and I would have to cut this to one with the mashout.

Thanks for any suggestions,

1. I wouldn't use the oats for about a week or 2 after you toast them. If you use them immediately after toasting, they will be harsh. Put them in a paper bag for about 2 weeks or so and use then. For time, it all depends upon how toasted (final color) you want them. I would suggest about a 1/2 hour, turning them after 15 minutes.

2. No, there won't be any problem adding flaked barley along with the oats. I've brewed recipes with both before without any issues.

3. A mashout will halt any further conversion process. I used to do a mashout but no longer do seeing as I mash overnight in coolers. The sparge temp will take care of the any additional conversion eventually.

I made that recipe, tweaked around a bit by adding some rolled spelt in addition to the oats (about 12% of the grist between the two), bittered with chinook and finished with Williamette. Might be the best beer I have made yet.

I also toasted the oats and spelt, then chopped them into smaller pieces, and kept them in a paper bag for a day or two and there was no harshness in the beer even at 2-3 weeks after bottling. I don't have my brewlog with me to be able to tell you the temp and time, but I want to say it was 250 *F for 30 min. Make sure to use a very clean sheet, I used one that is pretty well-used and had a bit of baked-in oil and I think I blame it for why the beer had very little head retention.

I also don't do mash outs any more as with batch sparging I found that it hurt my efficiency. If you get your runnings into your kettle quickly and get the heat on it you can retain the mash profile you were aiming for. I mashed at 156 and the beer has great body.

Have fun with the brew!

Thanks for the suggestions bluewagons and avid. I lightly toasted the oats for 25 minutes at 300 F this morning and they are "mellowing" in a brown bag until I mash tomorrow morning. I'm going to try mixing in 0.35 lbs of flaked barley as well. I especially appreciate the suggestion on the mash out. This is my 5th all grain brew and my efficiency has been pretty consistently at 75% and I hate to change the process once this is dialed in. I think I'll mash at about 155 and see how that goes (my temp usually drops about 2 degrees during 1 hour mash).

Thanks again!