Taste testing wheat question

Profile picture for user RedPentacleB

I just received the "Reds" wheat berry sampler from https://www.grainsfromtheplains.com and I want to make some small loaves with each variety to see if I can taste any difference between them. Does the community think a yeast dough or a sourdough would be the best method to distinguish flavor differences in the wheat?

Thanks

I think it really depends on what you're looking for. In my mind, if you want to purely evaluate the flavor of the wheat itself you should use a lean commercial yeast dough. However, if you're really into sourdough and you're trying to decide if you would use one of these wheat varieties regularly for future baking, it would be good to see how the sourdough affects that flavor. So I say do both! Run the experiment twice, and see what you find.

From my personal experience, I didn't find much of a difference between those reds and standard bulk hard red winter wheat in terms of flavor when I did my testing. The only variety I've found with a dramatically better flavor was Yecora Rojo from Barton Springs Mill, and even that is only really noticeable if you're eating the bread plain.

An unleavened flat bread would be the quickest and best way. It'll be convenient and you'll really get to taste the wheat itself without other factors. 

Profile picture for user RedPentacleB

Varieties (All Reds):

Cheyenne

Mediterranean (soft)

Rustic

Scout 66

TAM 105

 

Observations/Conclusions

Taste differences were subtle. Aroma differences were more noticeable (to me).

For me, the Cheyenne had the best flavor; it seemed a bit sweeter. 

The Mediterranean had the most flavorful crust but made a flatter loaf. It also fermented faster, the loaf began splitting during proofing while all the others maintained their shape and skin. The dough was much stickier than the others. During milling, the Mediterranean didn’t fall in a stream into the milling bin like all the others, it floated, seemed more static charged and took considerably longer to mill.

Rustic had a more coarse or gritty texture. Scout 66 a bit less coarse, and TAM 105 the mildest flavor of the five.

I don’t profess to have great taste buds. I’m sure there are people who could discern bigger taste differences than I.

Based on this one trial, taste differences were minor in these 100% loafs. If one diluted the whole grain flour to 10-25% of total flour, I don’t think I would be able to discern any difference in flavor.

 

Method

All the flours were milled sequentially with the mill being vacuumed out between varieties. The grind was unchanged. I have a Country Living grain mill. Immediately after milling, in five bowls, I combined 175g water, 250g flour, and autolyzed for 45 minutes. Then I added 3 g salt and ½ teaspoon yeast, mixed and kneaded a bit. I used less salt then I normally would to, hopefully, highlight the taste of the wheats. They were all baked at the same time. The finished loaves all looked pretty much the same except for the Mediterranean which was flatter.

 

Other Thoughts

I tried to control as many variables as possible, but I don’t know the age of the various wheats. Even though they were purchased from the same farmer, they could have been harvested at different times, stored differently, etc. Based on this test, I probably wouldn’t pay a premium for wheat berries, at least not from these five varieties.

Observations/Conclusions

Taste differences were subtle. Aroma differences were more noticeable (to me).

I have found that to be generally true. Aroma differences often don't translate into taste.