Cereals

Breakfast cereals are grains made for the morning bowl, from flakes eaten straight from the box to steel-cut oats that simmer 10 to 20 minutes. Granola is oats tossed with a sweetener and oil, then baked, while muesli is a similar mix of oats, nuts, seeds and fruit left unbaked.

How to choose Cereals

  • Granola or muesli. Granola is mixed with honey or another sweetener and oil before baking, so it is crisp and clustered. Muesli is not baked and can be eaten warm or cold.
  • Oat cut. Steel-cut oats are groats, the whole hulled oat kernels, sliced into three or four pieces and need 10 to 20 minutes on the stove. Rolled oats are steamed and flattened, and quick oats are rolled even thinner to cook in about a minute.
  • Container. Cereal products are a favorite of pantry moths, so a jar or tin with a tight lid beats a folded bag.

About Cereals

Breakfast cereals are grains processed for breakfast, from flakes and granola ready to eat from the box to oats that simmer for 1 to 20 minutes. Oats start as groats and are then cut or steamed and rolled.

Granola is made by mixing rolled oats, nuts and seeds with a sweetener and oil, spreading the mix thin and baking it until golden. Muesli skips the oven entirely. The Swiss doctor Maximilian Bircher-Benner promoted it in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Keep cereal cool and dry with the box liner folded down tight. Eat granola over yogurt or with cold milk, and soak muesli overnight in milk or juice for a softer bowl.

At a glance

Main types
Granola, muesli, flakes, rolled oats, steel-cut oats
Made from
Oats and other grains, nuts, seeds, dried fruit
Unopened
Ready-to-eat cereal 6 to 12 months
Once opened
2 to 3 months, liner folded tight

Cereals questions

Who invented granola?

The ancestor was Granula, made in 1863 by James Caleb Jackson, a doctor who ran a spa in upstate New York. He baked graham flour into brittle cakes, crumbled them and baked them again, and the result had to soak in milk overnight. John Harvey Kellogg later made his own version, was sued by Jackson, and renamed it granola.

How long does cereal keep once the box is open?

Ready-to-eat cereal keeps 6 to 12 months unopened and 2 to 3 months after opening, according to Kansas State University. Fold the inner liner down tightly each time so air and humidity stay out. Granola with nuts can go stale sooner, because the oil in nuts turns rancid, stale and bitter, faster in warm storage.

Sources: Kansas State University Research and Extension; Smithsonian Magazine; Colorado State University Extension.

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