Canadian Wheat

Flourpedia.com - Canadian wheat varieties are grouped by their functional characteristics. For example, varieties in the Canada Prairie Spring Red class have medium hard kernels and medium dough strength.

CWRS  (Canada Western Red Spring)

CWRS is a hard wheat with high protein content that is highly regarded for its superior milling and baking quality. It is the most widely grown wheat class in Western Canada, accounting for about 70% of annual production. 

Recently registered varieties in the CWRS class build on its reputation for protein strength, good milling characteristics and overall end-product quality.

Milling and Flour Properties

• Three milling grades available at various guaranteed protein levels
• Kernels have high test weights
• High flour milling yields with low protein losses
• Bright flour colour
• Strong but mellow gluten strength resulting in dough with good balance of elasticity and extensibility
• Higher water absorption compared to Canada Prairie Spring Red (CPSR) and Canada Western Red Winter (CWRW)
• Ideal for blending with wheats that have low protein content or gluten strength

Baking Applications

• Ideal for the production of high-volume pan breads
• Equally versatile in the production of hearth breads and flat breads
• Good mixing and fermentation tolerance on all baking processes
• Produces doughs with a good balance of elasticity and extensibility
• Breads made from CWRS have a bright crumb colour and high loaf volume

Noodle and Pasta Applications

• Well-balanced dough elasticity and extensibility, ensuring a smooth sheeting process and formation of a uniform gluten matrix suitable for a wide range of noodle and other Asian product applications
• A key ingredient in the production of fresh yellow alkaline noodles because of its excellent texture and colour properties and bright, clear appearance
• Suitable for the production of a wide range of noodle types including white salted noodles, egg noodles and instant noodles
• Produces pasta with acceptable cooking quality for markets preferring pasta made from common wheat

CWHWS (Canada Western Hard White Spring)

CWHWS features many of the same quality attributes associated with Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat while its white bran coat offers the added benefits of brighter flour colour and reduced bran specks. This combination makes CWHWS ideally suited for a wide range of applications.

Milling and Flour Properties

• Three milling grades are available
• Increased flour yields and improved flour brightness compared to CWRS
• Strong gluten characteristics making it suitable for blending with wheats with weaker dough strength
• High water absorption values similar to CWRS
• High amylograph peak viscosities

Baking Applications

• Ideal for the production of high-volume pan breads
• Equally versatile for the production of hearth breads and flat breads
• Good mixing and fermentation tolerance on all baking processes
• Similar bread baking performance as CWRS
• Breads made from CWHWS have high loaf volume and bright crumb colour
• Especially suited for the production of whole wheat bread, producing a loaf with a lighter appearance and milder flavour compared to whole wheat bread made from CWRS

Noodle and other Asian Product Applications

• Well-suited for the production of various types of noodles including instant, alkaline, wonton and white salted noodles
• Clear noodle background and good colour retention with very low speckiness
• Smooth surface for all types of cooked noodles
• Cooked noodles have a firm, elastic texture with good texture retention
• Bright white steamed breads with elastic texture suitable for a range of formulations
• Dumpling dough shows good extensibility and adequate strength which reduces shrinkage and breakage of dumpling wraps
• Well-suited for the production of quality dumplings with a partially translucent surface and elastic texture

CWAD (Canada Western Amber Durum)

Canada is the leading exporter of durum wheat in the world. CWAD is recognized for its superior colour and semolina yield, important factors in the production of pasta and couscous of the highest quality. 

More recently, Cigi research has shown that durum wheat flour offers distinct advantages in the production of high-quality yellow alkaline noodles. Breeding efforts in CWAD have focused on improving the colour and gluten strength in new varieties.

Milling and Semolina Properties

• Five milling grades are available
• High levels of vitreous kernels resulting in high semolina yields
• High protein content
• Excellent yellow pigment content resulting in semolina with bright yellow colour
• Strong and extensible gluten

PASTA Applications

• Pasta produced from CWAD has bright yellow colour
• Pasta made from CWAD has excellent cooking quality including excellent firmness, tolerance to overcooking and low cooking loss
• CWAD is suitable for the production of both dried and fresh pasta products

Noodle Applications

• Fresh yellow alkaline noodles (YAN) made from fine granulation durum flour are very bright with intense yellow colour
• Durum YAN have a very low degree of speckiness and excellent colour stability during storage
• Overall textural characteristics of cooked durum YAN are similar to those made from common hard wheat at comparable protein content
• YAN made with CWAD have decreased cooking time

Baking Applications

• Durum flour milled from high-protein CWAD is well suited for the production of hearth-style and artisan breads as well as flat breads
• The exceptional brightness of CWAD flour produces bread with a subtle yellow-coloured crumb that is appealing to consumers
• Flour milled from CWAD demonstrates high water absorption capacity

CPSR (Canada Prairie Spring Red)

CPSR is an excellent class of western Canadian wheat with medium protein content and medium kernelhardness. Over the last number of years newer CPSR varieties have been added to the class which have improved protein strength, milling properties and end-product characteristics. 

Evaluations conducted at Cigi have shown these varieties to have superior quality characteristics.

Milling and Flour Properties

• Two milling grades are available
• Excellent flour yields, comparable to or higher than Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS)
• Low flour ash content, comparable to or lower than CWRS, resulting in bright flour colour
• Cumulative ash curves show excellent milling performance
• Low protein loss from wheat to flour, comparable to CWRS
• High water absorption relative to international wheats within the same class
• Strong physical dough properties, comparable to, or even stronger than, CWRS
• Very useful for blending with high-protein or low-protein wheat

Baking Applications

• Ideal for the production of pan breads, hearth breads, flat breads and crackers
• Good mixing and fermentation tolerance
• Typically exhibits slightly lower absorption than CWRS
• Exhibits and retains good dough properties during mixing and processing
• Dough has good elasticity and extensibility
• Medium to strong dough strength, resulting in good bread loaf volume and crumb structure

Noodle and Pasta Applications

• Good noodle hydration rates
• Smooth and elastic dough for noodle processing and finishing
• Strong elastic dough properties
• Ideal for the production of high-quality white salted noodles with exceptional mouth feel and bite
• Ideal for the production of quality instant noodles with exceptional elastic texture
• Successfully used to produce pasta with desired firmness and colour quality in Latin America

CWRW (Canada Western Red Winter)

CWRW is a hard wheat offering good milling yield, dough strength and flour colour. It is available in two milling grades with a minimum guaranteed wheat protein content of 11% (13.5% moisture basis). 

CWRW is used in a variety of baking applications where lower protein is desirable and is widely used in the production of noodles and steamed bread.

Milling and FLOUR Properties

• Two milling grades are available
• Very high flour yields
• Medium protein content
• Medium to strong gluten strength
• Very low ash content, resulting in good flour colour and high brightness
• Lower water absorption than Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS)

BAKING Applications

• Well suited for the production of hearth breads and various types of flat breads
• Well suited for cracker production
• Good mixing and fermentation tolerance
• Baked products produced from CWRW have desirable crumb colour

Noodle and other Asian Product Applications

• Ideal for the production of Hokkien noodles
• Unbleached CWRW flour produces excellent quality steamed breads with smooth, bright white surfaces and symmetrical shapes

CWSWS (Canada Western Soft White Spring)

CWSWS is a soft wheat with low protein content and weak gluten properties. It is grown under irrigation in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan. The most commonly grown varieties are AC Andrew and Sadash. Small quantities of CWSWS are produced and exports of this wheat class may not always be available. 

CWSWS has high agronomic yields, soft kernel texture, and low protein content (i.e. high starch content) which makes it very desirable for use in the industrial ethanol industry where the majority of this wheat class is used. CWSWS is also suitable for a variety of food applications that require low protein content.

Milling and Flour Properties

• Three milling grades are available
• Wheat protein content is typically below 10.5% (13.5% moisture basis)
• Due to the soft endosperm texture, tempering time and tempering moisture content needs to be reduced in order to ensure adequate milling performance
• Gluten properties of CWSWS are best described as weak with the gluten exhibiting reasonable extensibility with low resistance
• CWSWS quality for various end products is typically characterized by determining the solvent retention capacity (SRC) profile of the flour

End-product Applications

• Ideal for the production of many confectionery goods (cookies, cakes, biscuits) and crackers
• CWSWS can be heat-treated for the production of thickening agents used for soups
• Can be used on its own or in blends with other wheats for the production of various types of Asian products including noodles and steamed bread
• Due to its white bran coat it can be milled to higher flour extraction levels for the production of Middle Eastern wheat-based end products

Title : Canadian Wheat
Originally Post At : www.grainscanada.gc.ca