Primary school children have toured a mill run by bakery supplier Edme, as part of National Science and Engineering Week.

Pupils from Mistly Norman primary school were shown the engineering used to produce flour, and were also taught about processed involved in behind baking, from the growing, harvesting and malting of grain to the milling of flour and the making and baking of bread.

Richard Ball, Edme’s technical baker, also showed the children how to make a good loaf of bread. They mixed ingredients to form a dough and added Edme’s malted flour, flakes and kibbles to the mix. They all discovered how the texture, extensibility and elasticity of the dough changed the more it was kneaded and that this was due to the stretching of the strands of gluten in the dough.

“The manufacturing sector needs to attract the country’s brightest, most skilled and most dedicated people, said Peter Tichbon, managing director of Edme. “Imagine the difference if every manufacturing company in the region were to run a school session – it could all lead to a much stronger manufacturing base and a better economy!”