The grains used chiefly in the United States for breakfast foods are corn, oats, wheat, and rice.

Corn is a native American grain and is the most abundant food product grown in the United States. It furnishes more nourishment for the money expended than most of our other foods and, if well cooked, can be made into many palatable dishes.

From corn are prepared cornstarch, corn meal, corn flour, hominy, samp, hulled corn, and some "ready-to-eat" cereals, such as corn flakes.

Oats are grown in northern regions and are used extensively for porridge and, in Scotland, for oat cakes. The old-fashioned oatmeal, which was sold in uncooked form and had much of the husk left on it, had to be cooked several hours; the modern preparations, such as rolled oats, for example, are steamed and while still moist the grains are passed between hot rollers; they are, therefore, partially cooked and require less cooking in the home. Oats are rich in fat, and therefore make a good food for winter.

Wheat, when finely ground, is the most important of bread stuffs, but it is also used extensively as a breakfast food. Cracked wheat is the crushed grain with part of the bran left on it and should be cooked for several hours. Special parts of the wheat grain are used in preparing various breakfast foods. Some breakfast foods are prepared from a dough made of wheat flour, baked, then dried and toasted.

From wheat are prepared graham, entire wheat, and white flour of various grades, many breakfast foods, macaroni, spaghetti, etc.

Rice is a grass native to India. It is the staple food in all tropical and semi-tropical regions, and is much used elsewhere. It is said to form the main food of one-third of the human race. Being deficient in fat and protein, it usually is supplemented with foods rich in these two food principles.

Table Of Composition Of Cereals (Atwater)

Cooking Of Cereals

The chief purposes of cooking cereals are:

(1) To sterilize them.

(2) To improve flavor and appearance.

(3) To hydrate the starch and cellulose and rupture the tissues, in order to make them more easily digestible.

As cereals contain from 66 to 79 per cent of starch and but 7 to 12 per cent of water, they must be cooked in several times their volume of water. Add 1/2 ts. salt for every pint of water used.

Table For Cooking Cereals