Effective baking techniques came under the microscope at a bakers’ seminar recently staged by the Bakers’ Association of Jamaica (BAJ). Over forty different professional bakers gathered in the hills of Kenilworth in Sandy Bay, Hanover for the two-day confab, which was held at the Kenilworth Heart Academy and was geared at equipping bakers with cutting-edge methodologies for achieving desired tastes and textures.

Lecturers were drawn from the Caribbean School of Baking of the University of Technology . According to the BAJ, the objective of the baking seminar included the imparting of information and knowledge on production techniques that reduce costs while accomplishing great gastronomical results.

Topics covered by the seminar included the efficient preparation of snack cakes, variety breads and sweet dough. Mixing procedures, shelf life and the function of ingredients were areas also examined. President of the Bakers’ Association of Jamaica Clarence Chin, says the event was an overwhelming success.

“Some of the most eminent bakers from the industry were in attendance. Bakers came from as far away as Morant Bay and Port Antonio, and from most of the other parishes of Jamaica,” he beamed. “Participants learned to make some of the best baked products in the world at the most economical costs,” he said.

There were live baking demonstrations as well as workshops examining different theories and techniques for preparing dough and oven-baking tasty finished products, and participants were awarded with certificates at a ceremony held at the conclusion of the event. “Those who participated were very excited. They recognised the value of the education received. We in the baking industry are well aware that we will have to be able to produce good quality products efficiently in order to compete in a free-trade world,” noted the association’s president.

The BAJ is planning a number of other certificate seminars aimed at improving the functions, operations and products of bakeries and pastry shops. The next in the series will be held October 12 to 14 at the University of Technology, and will focus on new technologies as well as cake-making.

With a membership of over 100 Jamaican bakers, the BAJ is a 25 year-old organisation overseeing the local industry. According to its president, there are approximately 250 bakeries and pastry shops operating in Jamaica. The BAJ is aiming to enrol most of the baking enterprises that currently exist.

“We intend to use these seminars as one means of uniting the industry and establishing standards,’ Chin explained. ” We will have to operate at accepted world standards and provide Jamaicans with the finest baked products,” he noted.