Using leftover stone-ground oatmeal
My husband and I eat a lot of stone-ground (oat groats or Irish oats) for breakfast. I try to make the right amount but sometimes I have leftovers. The dogs eat some of it but it's not their favorite leftover. Yes, gasp, my fancy high bred show and performance doberman plus the spoiled rotten chihuahua get table scraps!! But only what I would eat, which is pretty darn healthy I hope.They have a preference for fresh fruits and veggies, and of course grilled meats. BTW, my dogs are not fat, in fact the vet always compliments their weight and asks how I actually keep the little guy thin.
Anyway, I'd love to substitute all this cooked oatmeal for the rolled oats in various recipes, especially Hamelman's Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal bread. How do I go about figuring the water/oatmeal weights when I didn't cook it up for the bread? I've used it for the bread before but it was weighed and measured for the bread, then cooked so that it wouldn't be hard.
This might be too complicated to bother with. I might just freeze it and use for muffins like I've been doing but hubby enjoys Hamelmans CRO bread so I'd love to figure out how to do this. He's always asking for this bread and I'd probably bake it more often if I had leftovers that needed using.
I could weigh out the oatmeal I cook for breakfast but right now what I cook is 4 cups water to 1.5 cups oatgroats.
As for dog treats, did you know that dogs (or at least mine goofy mutts) think that sourdough starter is the best treat going? Yet another great use for discarded starter. I'm thinking about taking it to agility class to use for our "high value" treat. Plus, it's good for their intestines with all those great bacteria.
Hope this is enough of a challenge for you bread geeks and math majors out there!
I make a lot of Irish oats in my rice maker, and like you I often have leftovers. I find that a moderate amount of the cooked oats can be added to almost any recipe as-is and without any calculations; it seems to be the right hydration for almost any dough.
Using more than a little will tend to make the loaf heavier, to be sure.
sPh
From Janice Murray Gill's Great Canadian Bread Book.
Porridge Bread (This makes beautiful, light bread, slightly sweet.)
2 tbsp. dried yeast (slightly less if you're using instant yeast)
1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 tsp. sugar
1 cup cooked oatmeal porridge
2 cups scalded whole milk (I've used skim milk powder and water.)
3 tbsp. vegetable oil (Original recipe calls for lard or bacon dripping.)
2 to 3 tsps. salt (depending on whether you use the bacon dripping.)
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
5-7 cups all-purpose, or bread, flour
If using bacon dripping, cut down on the salt.
Proof the yeast with the sugar in the lukewarm water. Place the cooked porridge in a large mixing bowl. If it is cold it may be quite stiff but that does not matter. Stir in the scalded milk, fat, salt, and brown sugar and mix well to make a smooth batter. Check the temperature and add the proofed yeast. Stir in about 3 cups flour and beat very 2well. Continue adding flour until dough is too stiff to beat and cleans sides of the bowl. Turn out and knead well, adding more flour until a soft dough is formed. The amount of flour used will vary greatly according to the amount of water cooked off from the porridge. Knead until dough is smooth and elastic. Place in greased bowl; cover and leave to rise till double. Punch down, turn out and shape into three loaves. Place in greased loaf pans and let rise till double. Brush with melted butter and bake 30 minutes in 375 deg.F. oven. Remove and cool on racks.