ABOUT PRK
The Prairie Research Kitchen (PRK) at Red River College Polytechnic, brings together a unique blend of food science and culinary arts to find creative solutions to support Western Canadian food processors and food service providers through research and development, technical services, and training. Working with the PRK gives clients access to valuable in-house resources and the expertise of culinary instructors and researchers as well as students.
Contact PRK
11th floor 504 Main Street, Winnipeg, MB R3B 0T1
Services offered in: English
Request Interactive Visit: http://interactivevisits.ca
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RESEARCH AND INNOVATION EXPERTISE
EXPERTISE
- New product development
- Prototype development and optimization
- Proof of concept prototyping
- Formula development
- Recipe development and validation
- Sensory evaluation with semitrained panelists and consumers
- Stability testing
- Advanced instrumentation, quality attributes testing
- Ingredient utilization and functionality testing
- Process optimization
- Enhance and support marketing and sales strategies
- Food Styling and Photography
Previous Research Projects:
- Bump - The Manitoba-based company worked with the PRK to create a 70-30 ground beef/plant-based protein blend. The product is geared for "flexitarians" - those who want to incorporate more plant-based protein, without fully elminating meat from their diet. Full story
- Winnipeg Harvest - A partnership between the Prairie Research Kitchen and Winnipeg Harvest, helped distribute 3,000 nutritious Hamper Healthy™ soups to vulnerable Manitobans. Students from RRC’s Culinary Arts program worked alongside PRK’s research team to create the dehydrated mixes in summer 2020. Full story
- Prairie Fava is a Manitoba-based company that has developed new applications for fava beans. Fava flour can be added to food products to increase fibre, protein and overall nutrition content. The company first worked with the PRK to develop a fava flour crouton. Full story
- Spent Grain Miso - In partnership with two brewers, Torque Brewing and Farmery, the Red River College Culinary Research Program explored the possibility of spent grains to create Miso, a traditional fermented bean or grain paste. Full story
- The Prairie Plant Protein Project - The Prairie Research Kitchen collaborated with the University of Manitoba’s Department of Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, as well as the Food Development Centre — in partnership with funding from the Manitoba Pulse & Soybean Growers and Canadian Agricultural Partnerships — to build new, innovative ingredients and products using prairie plant protein sources like dry beans, soybeans and hemp in the project: Development of value-added food platform technologies using plant-based protein sources including bean, soy and hemp. The research led to novel applications of hemp, pulses, and soybeans and concluded with the development of a cookbook entitled: Pulse of the Prairies: A Culinary Celebration of Manitoba’s Plant Proteins. Learn more
TECHNOLOGY SECTORS
- Agriculture
- Food Innovation
EQUIPMENT AND LABS
| Equipment | Function |
|---|---|
| Demonstration kitchen with chef table sit-up bar | |
| Sonifier | Ultrasonic homogenizer for emulsions |
| Food Service cooking equipment | Deep fryer, gas range stove, oven, walk-in cooler, walk-in freezer, scales, steam kettles, flat top, grill, commercial mixers, ice machine, proofing cabinet, immersion blender, meat grinder |
| Household cooking equpiment | Refrigerator, induction burners, scales, toasters, instant pots, food processors, air fryers, waffle maker, spice grinder, food processors, |
| Stone flour mill | Grind grains into flour |
| Rational Self cooking centre | Automatically cook various foods, including meat, poultry, fish, vegetables, and desserts |
| Camber vacuum sealer | Witn modified atmosphere |
| R&D lab | |
| Blast freezer | Freeze foods at a speed that avoids damaging food molecules |
| Smoking equipment | Preserve and enhance flavour on meats, fish, and poultry |
| Programmable curing chambers | Charcuterie and fermentation projects |
| Nut butter mill | Grinds nuts into smooth creamy butter |
| Bread volume meter | Measures volume for baked goods |
| Vacuum tumbler marinator | Tenderizes, marinates, mix, or coats meat and fish |
| Pizza dough press | Manual unit for efficient and consistent dough pressing with heated upper platen |
| Commercial dehydratior | Dehydrates plants, spices, herbs with a temperature range from ambient to 90°C |
| Pasta extruder | Develop new fresh and dried pasta and noodle products. |
| Life Sciences equipment | |
| Fermentation equipment | Fermentation |
| Electrophoresis chamber | Separates and analyzes protein and DNA based physical properties |
| Pilot plant for sauces, salsas, and soups | |
| Steam kettles, hear pump, screw pump, piston filler | Upscale and package sauces, salsas, soups, etc |
| Life Sciences equipment | |
| HPLC | HPLC with Refractive Index Detector & HPLC with Ultraviolet-Visible Detector |
| Spectrophotometer UV-1600PC and FT-IR / NIR Spectrometer | Conducts and quantities pigment analysis, assesses beverage clarity, enzyme activity assays, and contaminants in food |
| Gas Chromatograph with Headspace Sampler and Gas Chromatograph with Mass Spec Detector (GC-MS) | Conducts a more comprehensive flavour and aroma profiling, trace contaminant detection; analyze bioactives |
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