Toasting Flaked Oats. Weird Chemical Smell?

[Colbizle]

Picked up a # of flaked oats at Northern brewer last night. Toasted them for roughly 45-50 minutes at 300F. Turned them every 10-15 minutes till I got a perfect light golden brown. The only concerning thing is that instead of getting that yummy oatmeal cookie smell I was expecting, I got a really weird oaty chemically smell that stunk up the kitchen. The smell is hard to explain but it wasn't too pleasant, Not cookie like at all to say the least and they were NOT burnt. Even my wife was like "What is that smell?". It even choked me up a bit and caused me to cough.

I'm wondering if anyone else experienced this? If not, I might just go get another pound and try it again to see. I'd rather waste $2 bucks then a $20+ batch of beer on spoiled oats.

 

[AnOldUR]

My guess would be burning off something left in the oven from the last time you used it.

 

[Colbizle]

My guess would be burning off something left in the oven from the last time you used it.

I thought so too but I used the oven to heat up some bread for dinner and the smell wasn't there. The smell didn't start coming on until about 20 minutes in of toasting the oats.

 

[stpug]

Yes, I've experienced the chemical smell from toasted oats. Generally speaking, if you see much change in color of the oats then you've gone too far (at least that has been my experience). A subtle color change (white to off-white) is normal, but golden brown may be too much and come across roasty. The easiest way to tell if you like the outcome is put a small bunch in your mouth and chew them up. If you like what you're tasting then you should be fine to use them.

As for the chemical smell: Put them in a container that allows them to breath (paper bag?, jar with screen lid?, etc) but will keep the bugs out. It will take a week or more for the chemical smells/gasses to escape but they will eventually go away almost completely.

 

[AnOldUR]

edit: stpug beat me to it . . .

 

[Colbizle]

Yes, I've experienced the chemical smell from toasted oats. Generally speaking, if you see much change in color of the oats then you've gone too far (at least that has been my experience). A subtle color change (white to off-white) is normal, but golden brown may be too much and come across roasty. The easiest way to tell if you like the outcome is put a small bunch in your mouth and chew them up. If you like what you're tasting then you should be fine to use them.

As for the chemical smell: Put them in a container that allows them to breath (paper bag?, jar with screen lid?, etc) but will keep the bugs out. It will take a week or more for the chemical smells/gasses to escape but they will eventually go away almost completely.

Yep they are sitting in a paper bag in the kitchen. Good to know I'm not the only one who experienced this. This is exactly what my oats look like. What are your thoughts? Too far or just right? I tasted a bunch and they got a nice nutty/cracker/toasty taste. Not burnt or roasty or chemically.

 

[stpug]

Yep they are sitting in a paper bag in the kitchen. Good to know I'm not the only one who experienced this. This is exactly what my oats look like. What are your thoughts? Too far or just right? I tasted a bunch and they got a nice nutty/cracker/toasty taste. Not burnt or roasty.

They look good to me, and better than that is that they taste good to you. I remember the batch I over toasted had a slight acrid/bitter aftertaste that mellowed after about a week, and wasn't at all present in the stout I used them in. I did let them offgas for a week or so before using them. The first few days of offgassing I could smell the "chemical" aroma in the small room I was storing them in but after a few days I couldn't detect that smell in the air anymore.

 

[Colbizle]

They look good to me, and better than that is that they taste good to you. I remember the batch I over toasted had a slight acrid/bitter aftertaste that mellowed after about a week, and wasn't at all present in the stout I used them in. I did let them offgas for a week or so before using them. The first few days of offgassing I could smell the "chemical" aroma in the small room I was storing them in but after a few days I couldn't detect that smell in the air anymore.

Sweet! Thanks for the insight!