Oats: Milled? or not Milled?

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gradnin

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Just wondering if there is a downside to milling flaked oats along with the rest of my grain? I did this initially when I started brewing via all-grain until I read something that said not to, so I stopped. But, now I cannot remember the "why" what goes along with that. Anyone know the pros and/or cons of milling flaked oats? Thank you.
 
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Flaked grains will mostly pass right through a mill gapped for barley malt.
I don't think that's a problem because flaked grains don't need to be crushed anyway...

Cheers!
 
I think its just as simple as you don't need to because they have been rolled already. I've never milled them to see if there is any benefit.
 
Flaked grains including oats do not need to be milled (and do not benefit from it), but it's fine to put them through with the rest of the grain if that's somehow more convenient for you.

Here's a great resource:
https://***************.com/wiki/Milling
Cheers
 
Milling, if it even touches them, will add practically no additional surface area or ability to get inside of the flake. So there's no real point.

Downside is dust / higher chance to stick a mash / more small bits floating around.
 
The one issue running flaked grains through a barley malt mill is it makes conditioning sketchy as those flakes absorb more moisture per pound (because they're flat, thin, and huskless) and they rapidly turn mushy and will definitely gum up the roller knurling (bt/dt once, lesson learned).

I'm a big fan of malt conditioning for the HUGE dust reduction and maintaining husk integrity, so when I weigh up a grist bill the night before a brew day I put any flakes grains in a bag instead of the gamma seal grain buckets...

Cheers!
 
BIAB so no stuck mash concerns

True, but might still help flow through the mash itself especially if you're doing any pump recirculation or similar. Could be an interesting experiment to compare your efficiency with earlier recipes / see if your OG is a little higher than usual.

Agreed though for BIAB not a worry. But possibly not useless either?
 
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