The Question Is,
“Do oats contain gluten or don’t they?”
Oats do NOT contain gluten. However, they CAN be contaminated, because often oats are processed in facilities that process wheat, rye, and barley. A very small percentage of celiacs also react to the protein found in oats, even though oats don’t contain gluten.
Expensive though they may be, you can buy certified gluten-free oats from these producers:
Bob’s Red Mill
Cream Hill Estates
www.creamhillestates.com
1-866-727-3628
Farm Pure Foods
www.onlyoats.com
Gifts of Nature
www,giftsofnature.net
406-883-3730
Gluten Free Oats
www.glutenfreeoats.com
307-754-2058
Glutenfreeda
www.glutenfreeda.com (instant oatmeal)
Legacy Valley
www.mtmonstermunchies.com
Option number two: Replace oat flour with rice flour. I’ve tried to make my recipes versatile enough that rice flour can easily be substituted in. Though rice flour isn’t always the best option, it works.
There’s one other thing you can try. We eat regular Quaker oats from the grocery store bought at 1/3 of the price of gluten-free oats. Quaker oats may contain gluten, and there’s always the chance that one container contains more gluten than another container. But so far we have had zero reaction, and we’ve always been pretty sensitive to any contamination. To make oat flour, I just grind the oats up in the blender. Though the resulting flour isn’t exactly fine, it works in most baked goods (except for cakes. It isn’t fine enough for cakes).
I’d suggest that after you’ve been on the diet for a few months, try the oats. If you get sick, then you know for sure that they won’t work for you, and you can either buy gluten-free oats or substitute with rice flour. I can’t guarantee that the Quaker oats will work for you. My Dad once called them about it and they told him the same thing.
Anyway, I hope that this addresses the question.
Sources: SFgate and University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center.
I’m SO glad you put this out there. I just found our blog on Facebook links, and I’m so glad o have found it! We’re pretty sensitive, too, and Quaker doesn’t bother us either. Woo hoo! I had to give you some serious props for that controversy. Off to find an oat bread recipe…
I would love to try to make some fresh gluten free reebread with oats can you give me a recipe for it.i just found out three months ago and im trying all different foods .thankyou mj
I don’t have a gluten-free rye-bread recipe, sorry! I’ll put it on my list of things to try within the next month and will get back to you if I develop a good recipe. 🙂 For now I’m working on doughnuts, jam-filled pastry, and a new yeast bread recipe so I probably won’t have time this week. Try searching ‘Gluten Free Rye Bread’ in google. You’re bound to come up with some good results, and you can take your pick.
Good luck going gluten-free!
I would like to try to make my own oat flour. Do I have to use the Old Fashioned Quaker oats, or can I use the quick cooking kind?
You can use either quick cooking or old fashioned. They both work equally well.