System and method for steam flaking of grains

A method of optimizing flaking of a cereal grain comprising:

• establishing a correlation between outgassing levels of one or more volatile compounds from the cereal grain as the cereal grain is processed by exposure to steam cooking and rolling into a processed grain, and a starch availability in the processed grain;
• selecting a desired starch availability for the processed grain;
• determining a desired outgassing level of the one or more volatile compounds based on the desired starch availability and the correlation;
• processing the cereal grain into processed grain by exposure to steam cooking and rolling of the cereal grain;
• monitoring outgassing of the one or more volatile compounds from the cereal grain while the cereal grain is being processed by the exposure to steam cooking and rolling of the cereal grain;
• adjusting at least one of a time of the steam cooking of the cereal grain, a temperature of the steam cooking of the cereal grain, a pressure of the steam cooking of the cereal grain, a flow rate of the cereal grain into a set of rollers, and a pressure between the set of rollers on the cereal grain based on the monitored outgassing to drive the monitored outgassing to a desired monitored outgassing level as the processing the cereal grain into the processed grain by the exposure to the steam cooking and the rolling of the cereal grain occurs.