Homemade Oat Milk

Why this works

Oat milk turns slimy for one reason: oat starch. Warmth and friction from a long blend start to gelatinise it, and squeezing the pulp hard pushes the gel through the cloth. So everything in this method keeps the oats cold and the blend short. Rinsing the oats first removes surface starch, ice-cold water slows the blender's heat, and a light squeeze gets the milk without the gloop.

The ratio of 1 cup oats to 4 cups water gives a milk close to toned dairy milk in body. Use 3 cups water for something creamier, closer to a barista carton. The date and salt are for drinking; skip both if you are cooking savoury dishes with it.

Using it

Pour it cold over muesli or overnight oats, blend it into smoothies, or use it in chai. When you heat it, warm it gently and take it off before a rolling boil, because homemade oat milk thickens as it gets hot, much like a thin porridge. That thickening is normal and not a sign anything went wrong. The leftover pulp can go into rotis, pancakes or a batch of oat cookies the same day.

Storage

Keeps 4 to 5 days in the fridge in a sealed glass bottle. It separates as it sits, so shake it every time. If it smells sour, throw it out. For a gluten-free milk, start with certified gluten-free oats. The nutrition figures on this page assume the pulp is strained out: only about a third of the oats end up in the milk, so we count roughly 32 g of the 90 g.