Do You Cook Golden Naked Oats?

Just curious what people do with Golden Naked Oats. I've used them quite often. I haven't cooked them before and most of the time I haven't even put them through a grain mill. They just don't seem like something you'd need to grind to extract sugars.

Instant oats are ready to be put into the mash. I've seen some debate on whole oats though. Palmer's says to cook them, I've seen some forum posts where people don't bother. Golden Naked Oats seem like whole oats to me. So maybe they would benefit from a cook before mash?

 

I thought they were malted oats, and also kilned like a crystal malt. The Simpson's website is a little cloudy on exactly how they're processed, as I recall. Anyway, you don't need to cook them like a raw grain, but I run them through a mill.

 

Do you grind them? I've read that some people do, but it's not malted barley so I don't really understand the need.

My reasoning is that if I was cooking up a bowl of whole oats for breakfast, I wouldn't grind them first.

I've only done it twice, and haven't noticed the difference...but I've only been brewing for about 1.5 years. Maybe I'm just not paying enough attention.

 

The whole idea of grinding is to make the starches inside more easily accessed by the enzymes. You do the exact same thing in your mouth when you chew the oats. The enzymes in your mouth begin breaking down the oats.

 

Well, I don't cook any other crystal malts, but I do grind them, so I will continue to treat Golden Naked Oats in this manner.