What is the difference between oatmeal and rolled oats?
There really is no difference. Oatmeal is what you make when you add water to rolled oats and cook it. There are differences in how oats are milled, however, which may be what you are asking. Here are the main types of oats: – Old Fashioned Rolled Oats: These are produced by literally rolling the whole grain oat between steel or stone rollers, which smashes it and makes it thin. This is the typical rolled oat that you’ll find in Quaker Oats. There are also “thick” rolled oats, which are exactly that: they are rolled in such a way to make them a little thicker. When you cook thick rolled oats, they have a different texture than thin oats. – Quick Oats: Quick oats are rolled oats that have been cut into smaller pieces and then rolled. This allows you to cook them in under 5 minutes, versus the 10-15 minutes for regular rolled oats. – Instant Oats: Instant oats (like the ones in the little packages) are cut, rolled and them steamed to “pre-cook” them. They are ready as soon as you add hot
