Centre for Culinary Innovation

The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), Edmonton, Alberta
What the facility does

Specializes in bench-top food and beverage product development, characterization of new food ingredients, and recipe development with a focus on flavour first

Areas of expertise

NAIT’s Centre for Culinary Innovation has expertise in new food and beverage product development that blends culinary creativity with food science principles to create foods that taste amazing and scale-up from bench top. The Centre has a focus on the utilization of crops grown in Alberta and specializes in plant-based foods.

The Centre has a multi-functional Research Kitchen, Meat Laboratory and Cheese Laboratory that allow food businesses to access expertise, equipment and infrastructure.

Research services
  • Food and beverage concept ideation
  • Bench-top food product development
  • Food ingredient evaluation and characterization
  • Taste panel evaluations
  • Food product demonstrations
  • Project management
  • Literature reviews
  • Rental of space and equipment
  • Reverse engineering of food products
  • Nutrition facts panel generation
  • Technical training/interactive workshops
  • Sample analysis and testing
  • Equipment demonstrations
Sectors of application
  • Agriculture, animal science and food
  • Education
  • Manufacturing and processing
Specialized lab Equipment Function
Research Kitchen Freeze Dryer  
  Rational combi oven  
  Meat grinder  
  Pasta extruder  
  Marble confectioners’ surface  
  Ice cream machine  
  Vacuum sealer  
  Food dehydrator  
  Thermocirculator (sous-vide)  
  Vacuum tumbler  
  Dough sheeter  
Retail Meat Laboratory Vacuum stuffer  
  Smokehouse  
  Bandsaw  
  Silent cutter/bowl chopper  
  Vemag stuffer  
  Vacuum tumbler  
  Fermentation chambers For fermented meat products
Cheese Lab Raw milk receiving equipment  
  Cheese vat Up to 200 L
Title URL
What plant-based milk alternative is right for you? https://techlifetoday.ca/articles/2022/plant-based-milk-alternatives-pros-and-cons
Plant Protein Alliance of Alberta: Cooking plant-protein burgers

https://youtu.be/4EK7D31_DsM

 

Diet resolutions: 6 things to know about eating less meat and more plant-based foods https://theconversation.com/diet-resolutions-6-things-to-know-about-eating-less-meat-and-more-plant-based-foods-148871
Development of novel line of gluten-free ready meal products from Alberta based pulses https://albertapulse.com/research/development-of-novel-line-of-gluten-free-ready-meal-products-from-alberta-based-pulses/
NAIT Research Chef passionate about creating new products with prairie crops https://ppaa.ca/nait-research-chef-passionate-about-creating-new-products-with-prairie-crops/
Against the grain: How researchers are transforming Alberta oats into tasty, innovative products https://www.techlifetoday.ca/articles/2019/research-explores-new-ways-to-transform-oats