For years scientists at the Canadian International Grains Institute
have baked full-size loaves of bread in big ovens.
Now CIGI has spent $454,000 so it can bake and test little loaves of
bread.
“This saves us a lot of time and we’re able to do things more quickly
and efficiently,” said Brigitte Dupuis, one of CIGI’s baking technology
scientists.
“This enhances our ability to assess new and existing varieties and
classes (of Canadian wheat).”
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CIGI tests Canadian wheat varieties and classes to find out what works
best for Canada’s international grain customers.
Until now, testing has been done in CIGI’s pilot bakery, which uses
large ovens to produce lots of commercial-size loaves.
The pilot bakery works well when a commercial-size run has to be done,
but CIGI staff say the big ovens don’t work fast or efficiently when a
large number of different varieties have to be tested quickly, or only
small scale preliminary work needs to be done.
The new equipment allows technicians to hone research before they
embark on large-scale tests. Dupuis said the pilot bakery and the new
equipment complement each other.
“Together, CIGI’s new test bakery and the existing pilot bakery offer a
unique and important link between the breeding programs and
bread-making research of a more fundamental nature and the baking and
allied industries which are highly applied in nature,” Dupuis said.
The Canadian Wheat Board spent $171,000 on the project, keeping up with
its usual 40 percent of CIGI funding. The federal government
contributed the rest.
CIGI chair Art Macklin said these kinds of facilities are needed for
the Canadian industry to keep customers happy.
“What we see in this project is co-operation between the farmers of
Western Canada and the government to do a very successful market
development project.”