Commercial bakeries need dependable flour to achieve consistent end-product quality, which means that traits such as extensibility, protein content, and water absorption must remain the same with each flour shipment. Millers around the world choose Canadian wheat because of its reputation for consistency among shipments, year after year.
Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) is regarded as a high-quality product, renowned for its high protein content and good milling characteristics. Likewise, Canada Western Red Winter (CWRW) is sought after for its high milling yields and flour colour. They are similar visually, yet are two distinct classes used for different end products. As such, those who are tempted to blend in winter wheat with their spring wheat risk harming the consistency and reputation of the Canadian wheat that customers count on.
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Lisa Nemeth, technical specialist in winter wheat at Cigi (Canadian International Grains Institute), says that both CWRS and CWRW have desirable qualities but have different properties making them typically suitable for different end-product applications.
Where CWRS is commonly used to make products like high-volume pan breads, CWRW is more often used in products like crackers or baguettes.
“In something like crackers, you need extensibility to be able to sheet the dough really thin, so CWRW’s lower protein and gluten strength compared to CWRS make it better for those types of products,” says Nemeth.
Nemeth stresses that CWRW is a desirable class on its own and can also be used in blends with CWRS to produce an excellent product such as pan bread. The adverse effect only results when such a blend is undisclosed to the customer.
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“It’s the difference in the properties between CWRS and CWRW that makes undisclosed blending really hard for customers to manage,” says Nemeth. “We need a consistent product, and we need to give them what they’re expecting. With even 10 per cent CWRW in CWRS, you’re going to change the baking properties of the flour.”
Rex Newkirk, Cigi vice-president of research and innovation, says that one of the biggest differences between the two classes is water absorption. CWRS has higher water absorption capabilities than CWRW, which is one of the main reasons that mixing the classes can cause major problems for customers.
“CWRS is a premium bread-baking, high-protein, very consistent product, but it’s also known for high water absorption,” says Newkirk. “That’s one of its selling features. CWRS will normally be able to hold about 64 per cent water before the dough gets sticky, whereas winter wheat is about 54 or 55 per cent.”
This is a big enough difference to disrupt a high-speed bakery working with CWRS, Newkirk says. The unexpected inclusion of CWRW can cause problems with dough stickiness, strength, and sheeting.
“The reputation and value of CWRS and CWRW is reliant upon consistency of quality within each class,” Nemeth says. “This consistency has been achieved by building a known quality profile for each class. It’s in the best interest of industry to maintain the reputation and quality of Canadian wheat by not mixing classes.”
