To produce flavoursome Kölln oat flakes from oats each and every grain should be taken at “face value” - namely when selecting the raw oats already as oats are by far not equal to oats. Oats have special requirements during growth and ripening: whereas the young shoots need a lot of rain at the right time, dry weather with a lot of sunshine is needed during the ripening process.
Upon delivery, oat grains are cleaned at first, i.e. weeds, sand and other foreign materials are removed. Damp lots pass through a heat and moisture treatment to balance moisture and to make them storable.
Then, oats are fed into a gentle thermal treatment, the so-called kilning. Enzymes that break down fats (lipases) get deactivated as otherwise they would cause premature spoilage of the wholegrain oat flakes due to rancidity. At the same time, starch is partly solubilised by the kilning process (resulting in a better digestibility) which brings out the characteristic, nutty oat flavour.