Hi Allie, thanks for your questions. It’s hard for me to recommend a store-bought oat brand to you because I live in the UK. Any organic oats would be a better choice than non-organic. If you don’t have any problems digesting them then maybe stay how you are; it’s only if you’re worried about phytic acid and the potential role it has in stopping you absorbing minerals that you would want to go through my process. As a compromise, maybe just soaking your store-bought oats in water plus a probiotic liquid (such as yoghurt) before cooking is an option…you can always do a big batch and leave them in the fridge so you only have to do it once a week.

That’s a good question, to which I think the answer is no. I believe you need to crack open by rolling or flaking the grain in order for the phytase to come out, but I’m not 100% sure and haven’t seen any articles confirming that. Even if it did work, the buckwheat grains would need a lot more cooking than the rolled oats when you came to eat them. If you don’t have a mill, my suggestion is to use a strong coffee grinder to break down some buckwheat grains.

Hi Cheri,

I don’t know how quickly phytase degrades in the freezer. My suggestion would be to make a big batch of oats (a week’s worth) and freshly-grind your rye. Use what you need the next morning and then put the rest of the mix in the fridge for subsequent days.

Hi Alison!

I regularly buy organic sprouted rolled oats, and even though the phytic acid is already broken down from the sprouting process, I still usually add plain kefir and let it sit out on my stovetop overnight to help with digestibility. Because of this, I haven’t been adding rye flour like I used to with unsprouted oats. However, if I find myself needing to use regular unsprouted rolled oats, is it possible to grind enough rye for a week and immediately put it into the freezer so I don’t have to get out my mill every time I want to soak oats? Will immediately freezing the rye flour keep the phytase from being depleted enough to not have to grind it fresh each time? I don’t have the counter space to leave my mill out all the time, and getting it out each time I want to soak oats is a bit of a hassle for such a little bit of rye flour if freezing the rye flour will solve the issue for me.
Thanks!

Rye flakes will not work as well because they have been previously-ground and therefore the enzymes in them have been destroyed. You could use a coffee grinder to freshly-grind small amounts of buckwheat groats or rye berries. My guess is that the toasting of the buckwheat may damage the phytase, so it is probably better to use raw buckwheat.

Yes, they would. I think it’s difficult to ferment these. I would try making your own.