Prairie Research Kitchen
(PRK)

Red River College Polytechnic

Winnipeg, MB

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.

PRK - Image

Modern, beautiful R&D facility housed at the Paterson GlobalFoods Institute (4,000 sq ft facility)


Contact PRK

PRK Elena Gomez Haro

Elena Gomez Haro
Industry Liaison Manager

+1-204-631-3314

egomezharo@rrc.ca


Web Site

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

  1. New product development
  2. Prototype development and optimization
  3. Proof of concept prototyping
  4. Formula development
  5. Recipe development and validation
  6. Sensory evaluation with semitrained panelists and consumers
  7. Stability testing
  8. Advanced instrumentation, quality attributes testing
  9. Ingredient utilization and functionality testing
  10. Process optimization
  11. Enhance and support marketing and sales strategies
  12. Food Styling and Photography

Previous Research Projects:

  • Addressing food insecurity in Indigenous communities – PRK partnered with Manitoba Métis Federation and UM to address food insecurity and sovereignty barriers in First Nation and Red River Métis food systems, with support from Protein Industries Canada. Full Story
  • Workforce development and new product development – Students develop their own personal recipes for success at RRC Polytech’s Prairie Research Kitchen while receiving the support and guidance of the PRK team. Recipes include Indigenous based sauces rooted in tradition, BBQ sauces, and an Instant brownie mix. Full Story
  • Les Verts Living, TACAM & BETAC – Les Verts Living partnered with RRC Polytech to develop its soil-free, pesticide-free hydroponic Terrace Pro system, now on the market. One unit supplies Culinary Arts students with fresh, gourmet produce during their studies. Full Story
  • Main Street Project – The PRK ability to repurpose perfectly good food generated through research projects helped repurpose and redirect 500 kg of food to Main Street Project in an ongoing collaborative effort that helps feed the community while providing students with a valuable introduction to research. Full Story
  • Big Mountain Foods and Prairie Fava – With Protein Industries Canada support, PRK partnered with Big Mountain Foods and Prairie Fava to help bring more fava-based products, like fava tofu, to market. Full Story
  • Bump gets a boost - 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 eliminating meat from their diet. Full story
  • Winnipeg Harvest - Soup’s on! Winnipeg Harvest partnered with the PRK to produce healthy soup mixes for the community. Full story
  • Prairie Fava - a Manitoba-based company, started with a seed and a big idea. With the PRK they developed new applications for fava beans; 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 finding new life in an ancient Japanese seasoning. Full story
  • The Prairie Plant Protein Project – PRK partnered with the University of Manitoba, Food Development Centre, and industry funders to develop innovative ingredients and products from prairie proteins like dry beans, soybeans, and hemp. The research led to a cookbook: Pulse of the Prairies: A Culinary Celebration of Manitoba’s Plant Proteins. Learn more

TECHNOLOGY SECTORS

  1. Agriculture
  2. 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
Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (AAS) Conducts mineral content analysis and heavy metal testing
Inductively Coupled Plasma-optical emission spectroscopy Conducts trace mineral analysis and heavy metal detection in different samples including food ingredients
Differencial Scanning (DSC) Calorimeter Monitors protein denaturation, gelling transition processes, physical state of water in food, polymorphic forms of fats, and others
Freeze dryer Removes moisture from materials by freezing them and then subjecting them to a vacuum, which causes the ice to sublimate directly into vapor without melting
Microwave digestion It dissolves solid samples into a solution for analysis
Food quality laboratory
Centrifuge Separate substances based on density, size, or shape
Rotary evaporator Remove solvents efficiently via the process of evaporation
Equipment for microbial analysis Incubator, micripipetes, autoclave, hot plates, vortex, water distiller
Electrical sieve Particle size determination
Viscometer Measures fluid flow and viscosity of liquids
Colour meter L*, a*, b* colour reader
Moisture & Aw analyzers Measures moisture content and water activity
pH meters Measures hydrogen ion activity in solutions and solids
Microscope
Texture analyzer Performs texture profile analysis
Food styling lab
Backdrops, lights, video, and photography editing software Professional photo lab for food and beverage products

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