I came across this news release on the Tim Hortons website tonight. It discusses the construction of a $125 million par-bake facility in Brantford, Ontario.
What, I wondered, is a par-bake facility?
Well, it seems that if you want to bake lots of bread in a giant factory, and then ship it out across the land, it’s better to partially bake it than to bake like any normal person would (i.e. all the way). According to The Pillsbury Company:
With this new technology, Pillsbury factory [sic] now bakes products until they are about 90 percent done and then ships the products to restaurants or other establishments, which merely have to heat it [sic] up in order to ‘fresh bake’ it [sic].
What I am wondering is: if you’re “merely heating up” some previously par-baked bread, is the end result really “fresh-baked?”
Tim’s currently describes its sandwich breads as follows:
All sandwiches are built on a choice of a fresh-baked white or whole wheat country bun, with tomato, lettuce and our special creamy dressing.(emphasis mine). Will this change when the partially-baked bread is trucked in from Brantford? If I make some soup today, and then put it in the freezer and heat it up tomorrow for lunch, is this “freshly made” soup? We’ll have to wait until the bread trucks start to roll; somehow, though, I think that “choice of re-heated partially baked bread made in Brantford, Ontario” doesn’t have the same cachet.
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Comments
Not only is this par-bake a
Not only is this par-bake a horrible process. The fact that
tim hortons is doing this is not a good sign. Aswell as the
fact that there are a lot of “extras” that go into these
new donuts that nobody knows about. (Such as MSG, MONOSODIUM
GLUDIMATE) people who are msg sensitive could get very sick
or even die. MSG is a very bad sugar substitute and if you
look it up, you’ll find all the other health problems it
could cause.
But rather than just complain about the health problems,
lets complain about the fact that bakers could loose their
jobs when the finish their “ALWAYS FRESH” training.
Storefront kids are expected to bake the donuts themselves.
I know someone who has to go to GORGE BROWN to become a baker.
Not apply for storefront at Tim Hortons.
would I be allowed to promote your website for the sake of
anti-parbake debate?
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