I wonder with the downsize to smaller house phenomen if a rice cooker could be found at a thrift store.
I’ve done soaked oats with flax seed in it. It smells amazing and the horses love it. I use an electric tea kettle from amazon- it will boil a liter of water in 3 mins so super fast. It does set up pretty well too when soaked. The nice thing about the tea kettle is that there’s no leaving anything plugged in- use it quickly, unplug and done. No fire worries. How long I let it soak depends on how much I’m fiddling about at the barn.
Oh and for the loose salt- have you tried the Redmond salt in the feed? Some horses really seem to like the taste of it
For my VERY picky gelding, I titrated his salt up from a pinch to 1tsp over about 2 weeks. I did the same when he was on daily aspirin for his uveitis.
Best of luck getting weight on your picky girl.
On a scale of 1-10 about how concerned I am over the fact that this picky horse doesn’t like loose salt, it registers around a -47. I have plenty of ways I can get electrolytes into her when I need to.
But for the record, Redmond salt has been tried in the past. My entire herd found it no more appealing than any other salt. I fall for most traps, er, I mean “recommendations.”
Again, I really don’t mean to sound dismissive and I’m sorry if I do. I appreciate the concern and helpful advice… but I’m really just looking for info on cooking oats. 
I DO think I will go scope out the local thrift stores for used rice cookers and electric kettles. I used to have an electric kettle for the barn from years ago, but I have no idea what happened to it. That rice cooker from BB&B looks really nice, and I do have a BB&B gift card that’s been sitting around for years…
Snort. -47. I love it. :lol:
If your hot water isn’t hot enough to do anything impressive, maybe cranking up the water heater is worth a shot? Easy enough to turn back down if you find that doesn’t help.
Simkie, so I just opened the closet with the hot water heater and turned the knob up. Thanks! I feel like a failure as an adult for not realizing how ridiculously easy that is to do.
Just pouring boiling water over oats won’t cook the oats. If you really want the oats cooked then you’ll have to either find a large double boiler or just a large pot. If you just use a large pot then you will have to stir it the entire time it is cooking if you use the double boiler then no stiring at all. Ratio is 3 cups water to 1 cup oats-will depend on how thick you want it. The first few times your ratio will be trial and error until you get the consistancy you want. The thicker it is the more water you can add after it is cooked to cool down the hot oats or use boiling water to warm up the refridgerated oats. Adding a bit of molasses before feeding helps those picky eaters but most are happy with just the plain oats. I cook oats every morning.
I am going to vote for the rice cooker, even a cheap one. They’re magic, especially for lazy people like myself. If you don’t find the $15 one is cooking the oats well enough, try running it twice.
On a side note, my sister found a SUPER nice rice cooker at the thrift store. I don’t know what retail is, but it had all sorts of bells and whistles. She paid like $12 for it!
[QUOTE=Trails;8746195]
Just pouring boiling water over oats won’t cook the oats. If you really want the oats cooked then you’ll have to either find a large double boiler or just a large pot. If you just use a large pot then you will have to stir it the entire time it is cooking if you use the double boiler then no stiring at all. Ratio is 3 cups water to 1 cup oats-will depend on how thick you want it. The first few times your ratio will be trial and error until you get the consistancy you want. The thicker it is the more water you can add after it is cooked to cool down the hot oats or use boiling water to warm up the refridgerated oats. Adding a bit of molasses before feeding helps those picky eaters but most are happy with just the plain oats. I cook oats every morning.[/QUOTE]
Thanks for confirming my suspicion that hot water alone won’t be enough to get the desired results.
Just curious, how long does it take to cook them on the stove top? They seem to be sufficiently “cooked” using the slow cooker to the consistency I want, it just takes 3-4 hours on high.
As for the molasses… ha, that’s another no go for this horse. But she seems to like the cooked oats mixed in with her regular meal so long as I keep the total volume of the meal about the same.
I live in Australia, so telling you I just buy either whole or cracked barley at the feed store doesn’t help much, does it?
We tend to feed differently here, I think. I was taught that barley tends to put on more condition than oats so the pony, when she is in full work gets oats. So does the hot little TB because he get doesn’t tolerate anything with barley in it. One of our well-known feed guru vet guys here says that soaking the oats in hot water (boiling because everyone here has several electric kettles, commonly called “the jug” ) and pouring off the excess water before feeding reduces whatever it is that can cause some horses to be silly on oats. Seems to be right for our TB.
I seem to spend more time “cooking” in the barn than the kitchen . . . Soaking the SpeediBeet, soaking the oats, slow cooking the barley.
No suggestions on the oats, but why are you against using the crock pot? A barn I worked for on weekends used one to cook flax seeds, in the feed room, all day/every day and never had a problem. I use mine on a regular basis (like, 4-5 times a week since I work nights and DH has pretty terrible cooking “skills”) without issues.
As to your PITA horse being super finicky…I might be worried that if I started cooking her oats she would become so demanding she wouldn’t touch them otherwise! :lol: Best of luck!
[QUOTE=Texarkana;8746154]
On a scale of 1-10 about how concerned I am over the fact that this picky horse doesn’t like loose salt, it registers around a -47. I have plenty of ways I can get electrolytes into her when I need to.
But for the record, Redmond salt has been tried in the past. My entire herd found it no more appealing than any other salt. I fall for most traps, er, I mean “recommendations.”
Again, I really don’t mean to sound dismissive and I’m sorry if I do. I appreciate the concern and helpful advice… but I’m really just looking for info on cooking oats.
I DO think I will go scope out the local thrift stores for used rice cookers and electric kettles. I used to have an electric kettle for the barn from years ago, but I have no idea what happened to it. That rice cooker from BB&B looks really nice, and I do have a BB&B gift card that’s been sitting around for years…[/QUOTE]
Sorry- I thought you were looking into a salt to add into the feed. I’ve never found a loose salt that any of my guys would eat either (and they will eat ANYTHING lol). I always add it into the feed
[QUOTE=runNjump86;8746969]
No suggestions on the oats, but why are you against using the crock pot? A barn I worked for on weekends used one to cook flax seeds, in the feed room, all day/every day and never had a problem. I use mine on a regular basis (like, 4-5 times a week since I work nights and DH has pretty terrible cooking “skills”) without issues.
As to your PITA horse being super finicky…I might be worried that if I started cooking her oats she would become so demanding she wouldn’t touch them otherwise! :lol: Best of luck![/QUOTE]
Leaving the crock pot on all day, every single day just gives me the willies. I know folks do it all the time, but the surface of mine gets HOT.
You make a very good point about the diva demanding cooked meals, ha!
So far, she doesn’t seem to care one way or another. What I started yesterday thanks to this thread is cooking up 1lb in the evening, refrigerating it, then splitting it between AM & PM meals. Worked like a charm last night and this morning.
No worries, didn’t mean to come across snarky, I was just being a smart ass because several folks (not just you) were all over the salt thing. :lol:
I too would cook oats were it not for my crock pot paranoia. And my aversion to adding to the amount of dishes that need to be washed around this place. And that the horse I’d cook them for decided he prefers them not cooked. ???!
I end up feeding the most crimped oat I can find. I’ve even considered buying people quaility rolled oats or quick rolled oats. They aren’t cheap! https://www.amazon.com/Quick-Rolled-Oats-Bulk-Pound/dp/B0007NG568
So a little over a week in to my oat cooking experiment, I figured I’d share what I’ve learned, in case anyone else is feeling clinically insane and wants to add complication to their feeding regimen. :lol:
I’m still using the slow cooker. In the evening, I put about 1 qt of whole oats (~1lb) in with 5-6 cups of water. Set the cooker on high and let it go for about 4 hours. (Note: the more water you add, the longer it takes to cook. But if you add too little water, the oats won’t soften. Adding more water seems to be beneficial if you want to let them cook all day or overnight so that they don’t dry out.) Towards the end of the cooking, I make sure to stir it a few times only because the top layer starts to desiccate, but there’s still a good bit of water at the bottom. After about 4 hours, all the water will be absorbed, the oats will be swollen, soft, and “slimy,” similar to the gooeyness of oatmeal. They will also be WAY too hot to feed to the horses for a long time. I let them cool a little, then scoop them into a plastic container and store in the fridge.
In the morning, I scoop out about half of the cooked oats and let them warm up at room temp for ~30-60 min while my hay cubes are soaking. They are still cool from the fridge when I mix them into her regular meal, but my picky horse does not seem to mind at all. I think she actually likes the cool feed in this heat.
I do the same thing for the evening feed and the rest of the oats. Then get my next batch ready for tomorrow.
In just a week, I haven’t seen any brilliant changes in the hard keeper’s ease of keeping as hoped. But she is eating the cooked oats with gusto, so I guess I’ll keep doing it until my sanity kicks back in. I’ve been thinking about cooking a portion of her whole flax seed in with the oats, although I’ve read online that it can get messy with flax seed’s tendency to turn into super glue when wet. Right now clean up is quick and easy, which is one of the top reasons I have yet to be deterred from cooking!
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One person at my barn cooks flax with garlic in a slow cooker and then mixes with uncooked whole oats. The flax does appear to create a pretty persistent film on the slow cooker pan.
Hmmm…what brand do you have? I have an older one (2009?) and a brand new one and I notice a difference between how hot the surfaces get as well. Not saying you have to go buy a brand new one (mine was a gift) but perhaps that would help put your willies at ease? :lol:
I won’t think you’re totally nuts until you’re insisting on soaking and sprouting the grain before you feed it :lol:
Glad to hear you have a fairly easy process that works for you!
[QUOTE=runNjump86;8752444]
Hmmm…what brand do you have? I have an older one (2009?) and a brand new one and I notice a difference between how hot the surfaces get as well. Not saying you have to go buy a brand new one (mine was a gift) but perhaps that would help put your willies at ease? :lol:[/QUOTE]
Mine is a Crock Pot brand, nothing special, the silver 7qt kind that retails for maybe $35. I got it as a wedding gift in 2012.
I accidentally left a bunch of bananas sitting on the counter about 6" from the crock pot the other day. The banana closest to the crock pot was baked black!
So, no… I don’t think I’ll be letting it go unattended on a regular basis. I know it would probably be fine and folks do it a lot, but I just rather not invite the bad luck.
I’m a teacher on summer break, so it’s no big deal to be around. When school starts back next week :eek:
:no::mad::uhoh::grief::disgust:, I think the evening routine will still work.
[QUOTE=ozjb;8745157]
I don’t cook oats either, but rather soak them in hot water. A friend just throws them in and doesn’t bother with soaking or cooking them as she tells me the soaking/cooking makes it easier to digest, but isn’t totally essential. Not too sure about that, but her horses don’t seem to have any problems.
I do use a slow cooker for the horses who get barley.[/QUOTE]
I am confused by what you mean about your friend. Most people don’t cook or soak oats.
Obviously special needs horses may need it but others do not.
