Many of us have porridge oats in the cupboard, especially in the winter, and we often see porridge oats as just something to make a porridge with rather than anything else. And lets be honest, oat porridge can be nice and hearty, but it can also be bland. Now, I learned in the summer that with the help of a strainer ( I use a nut milk, or “mylk”, straining bag that I had purchased online, but you can also just use a fine sieve or a cheese cloth or muslin laid out in a sieve) and a blender,I could make a “milk” from raw almonds. I wondered if I could make an oat milk at home too. With the shelf price of commercially available oat milks out there, making it at home seemed like a good way of saving money and giving myself something creative to do at the same time.
So I got out my nut milk making bag and my blender, poured enough oats in to make a small layer on the bottom (you can experiment to taste for the thickness of oat milk that you like, but in my mixing jug it was about two finger widths height from the bottom total thickness) and then filled the jug up to the maximum line with tap water. I put the lid on and then pulverised it in my blender.
I gave it two long bursts, got out a cheap metal mixing bowl and then poured the mixture through the nut milk straining bag and squeezed the goodness from the bag with a twisting motion. I decanted off some of the milk into a glass to taste. It was divine! Creamy, rich, beautiful! I worked out that I had made about two pints. I poured one pint off into a kilner jar (like a mason ball jar) and put in into the fridge for the morning (knowing that I'd have to shake it before use).
Give it a go. Although I haven't tried it yet, it might be good to add a shot of espresso and make a healthy oat milk latte from it, possibly a dash of vanilla and some coco, cinnamon or nutmeg to make a seasonal coffee milk drink.