When Canadian wheat is the topic of conversation, it’s only a matter of time before quality milling wheat becomes a focus. After all it’s our international brand, and our red spring wheat is said to be one of the best milling wheats in the world, perfect for bread baking.
But did you know there’s another wheat that is often overlooked, but an equally good milling wheat, albeit for a slightly different market? Quality characteristics of Canada Western Red Winter (CWRW) wheat make it a perfect choice for use in processing food products that require a high-quality wheat with low-to-medium protein levels. While it doesn’t have the high protein of a Hard Red Spring wheat, it actually outstrips it in some milling characteristics.
“CWRW in particular has the best milling performance amongst all Canadian wheat classes in terms of flour yields, low ash content, and colour that is bright and stable which means the dough discolours very slowly,” says Ashok Sarkar, head of milling technology at Cigi (Canadian International Grains Institute). CWRW protein is guaranteed at a minimum of 11 per cent for the top two grades.
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“Anywhere U.S. HRW with 11.5 per cent protein is being used, CWRW can adequately fulfill those processing requirements,” he says. “It can be used for virtually any kind of medium-hard wheat-based food product, and with it customers also get the Canadian quality package which brings cleanliness, uniformity, improved yields, lower ash and better colour.”
CWRW has been traditionally in demand for feed markets. However, the wheat class is well-suited for food products such as hearth breads and flatbreads and in blends with soft wheat for crackers. The low ash content results in good flour for places such as China and throughout Southeast Asia. In some Asian countries flour bleaching occurs to obtain desired product brightness, and the possibility of banning the practice opens up greater potential use of CWRW.
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“It’s still the best class for steamed bread because of its whiteness,” says Esey Assefaw, head of Cigi Asian products. “When it’s milled at the same standard milling procedure, same extraction rate and protein, side by side with other types of wheat, it gives the highest whiteness which is great for steamed bread because they want it as white as possible.”
Sarkar recalls that a number of years ago, when Cigi conducted an evaluation of wheat mixes for various food applications in Thailand, the mix for steamed bread used CWRW as the core wheat.
Domestic mills will sometimes use CWRW for blending to slightly lower the protein content of flour, he says. CWRW is also blended with soft wheat flour to add protein strength for certain baked products. “Yeast-based dough or fermented doughs used for crackers require strength, so using soft wheat doesn’t always give good results. That is why CWRW is blended 50-50 sometimes. It fits nicely because it’s got lower protein, and is not as hard.”
The Canadian system of protein segregation which, for Nos. 1 and 2 CWRW guarantees no less than 11 per cent protein, has helped ensure quality and consistency for end-use processing, Sarkar says.
Over the years Cigi has carried out quality evaluation of CWRW on behalf of customers and for technical missions overseas. In September 2013, Sarkar and Assefaw demonstrated quality characteristics of CWRW varieties in milling and the processing of steamed bread and white salted noodles to customers at major milling companies in Japan, as well as South Korea, who had a limited awareness of its potential. Samples of newer wheat varieties from Canadian grain companies were compared to those used by the Japanese and Korean companies from competitor countries which generated positive results for CWRW varieties.
“CWRW is a very high-quality wheat for the food applications it’s used for,” adds Rex Newkirk, Cigi vice-president of research and innovation. “Yes, it has lower protein, but there are lower protein markets and it gives amazing flour yield. Sometimes when you hear or read about low-, medium-, and high-quality wheat, what is really being discussed is protein, not actual quality.”
