Hi Mike, I did include a brief mention about flavor and aroma differences at the end of the blog, which was to say that my nose and tongue are not the most sensitive and I didn't notice any differences. I think the carotenoid pigments have a fairly subtle influence on flavor and aroma, but those with more acute senses may be able to discern differences better than I was able to. I also think that the only mixing method that would have been likely to damage the carotenoid pigments was Dough #1, the intensive mix, in test #2 (French-Style Baguettes). It may be that our home mixing and kneading practices are not as likely to damage the carotenoid pigments (as compared to to the industrial mixing methods Calvel was responding to). There are plenty of good reasons to keep mixing and kneading times to a minimum and to add an autolyse and folds as a more gentle way of developing dough strength and extensibility, but I don't think the fear of damaging carotenoid pigments need be a major motivation. I didn't even notice a difference in crumb color between the intensive mix and the other mixes. I found this part of the testing very interesting, but I think more testing would need to be done to understand the threshold where intensive mixing causes damage to the carotenoid pigments.
Barb
October 2, 2017 at 7:28am
In reply to Enjoyed your post. I am a retired engineer now delving into bak… by Mike Onufry (not verified)