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.
Thank you. Good idea.