i’m adding to my diet the stuff that the wonder bread company throws away. my question is this: raw wheat germ, crude rice bran and wheat bran, can i just sprinkle this on my granola? dump a scoop into my smoothies? spoon it into my hot cereals? as is? or is there some value or necessity in cooking it?
Wheat bran is a high-fiber food that you can add to baked goods or sprinkle over soups and cereals. While you might sprinkle wheat bran over cooked oatmeal, cooking it like oatmeal will result in an unpalatable, chewy mush.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/485778-can-you-eat-wheat-bran-like-oatmeal/
Some people toast wheat germ and wheat bran, but that’s only for the taste. Nutritionally and functionally there seems to be no difference in cooking it.
More importantly is refrigerating the wheat germ so it doesn’t go rancid.
Agreed on keeping it cool. It is the reason whole wheat flour goes bad, but white flour doesn’t. I have yet to find wheat germ not toasted already though (maybe I haven’t looked hard enough). I buy it from our local bulk food store, so I just buy small amounts at a time.