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