I am absolutely perplexed by what causes psyllium husk powder to sometimes turn purple when baking. This will be the thread where we can share our experiences and hopefully we can find the cause behind this odd and unpredictable behavior.
Here's what I know so far:
- Some people claim that baking powders that contain aluminum can cause psyllium husk powder to turn purple.
- I have used the NOW brand psyllium husk powder for over a year and had not had anything turn purple until my last batch of tortillas, which turned VERY purple despite not containing baking powder.
- Using that same bag of powder, I just made my McGriddle buns and the did not turn purple, despite containing baking powder.
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If you do a recipe and it turns out purple, please share any details you think might be pertinent. Maybe we can figure this out...
Illegitimi non carborundum
I just made tortillas and crackers again. The tortillas again came out purple. The crackers turned deep purple (no relation to the band by the same name) then got more brown than they have in the past. Additionally, they were a little oily.
I wondered if the temperature of the water used to hydrate the dough had any impact, so I made a couple batches of simple (and inedible) dough: 1 TB almond flour, 1 TB psyllium husk powder, 3 TB water. In one batch, the water was 95F; in the other, it was 145F. I cooked each as a patty on a cast iron skillet. Both came out purple.
Now, if it weren't for the one batch of McGriddles that came out properly, I'd suspect that NOW changed their source for psyllium or that I got a bad bag. Looking at the ingredients for the McGriddle, what stands out to me is that it has baking powder (which many people say is what causes the product to turn purple) and sweeteners.
This is leading me to believe that somehow the sweeteners may be preventing the color change. But how? Is it pH related? The experiments will continue...
Illegitimi non carborundum
Wow, I thought this was a rarity, but when I googled "why would psyllium husk turn purple when cooked" I got a plethora of responses that dated as far back as 2016! But no reason(s) given. I like to know WHY! *grumble* You'd think that somewhere there would be a definitive answer with details!
“When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use. When diet is correct, medicine is of no need.” – Ayurvedic Proverb
“The doctor of the future will no longer treat the human frame with drugs, but rather will cure and prevent disease with nutrition.” – Thomas Edison
I think I'm on to something. My last two batches of tortillas (version 2.0) came out purple. This batch I decided I would add a packed of TrueLime (crystallized lime powder) for a different flavor. There was just a subtle hint of purple in my tortillas.
This leads me to believe that the purple could be a function of the pH, with acidity lessening (or eliminating) the purple from the psyllium husks. Since one packet equals the juice of 1 lime wedge, I'm wondering if 2 packets -- or a tsp of lime juice -- could eliminate the purple all together. Alternatively, I'm thinking a relatively small amount of citric acid could do the trick. I'd probably start with 1/4 tsp.
If anyone decides to experiment with this, I'll be excited to hear your results.
Illegitimi non carborundum
I would say that you're on to something for sure. You may have already seen this, but I'll leave it here anyway. 🙂
https://www.planted365.com/2020/07/27/psyllium-husk-powder-from-turning-purple/
“When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use. When diet is correct, medicine is of no need.” – Ayurvedic Proverb
“The doctor of the future will no longer treat the human frame with drugs, but rather will cure and prevent disease with nutrition.” – Thomas Edison
My experience was, when I did the tortillas on the cast iron skillets they definitely turned a kinda shiney purple. Since I had trouble with them sticking on the cast iron, I started using a ceramic non stick skillet and they are a perfect golden brown.
@ketoadminp
Funny you should ask about pH. Found this article. It is in relation to nuts, not psyllium, but maybe same principle? Â
https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/6672-preventing-purple-walnut-bread
@valkyrie I just seen {yellow}:happy: this online, I’m going to try it tomorrow hopefully it will work. I’m also thinking that it has something to do with the cast-iron skillet but I really want to use it since I bought it for this purpose.
