Lightroom Workflow & Avoiding Photoshop

Question

There are still basic colour adjustments that I'm performing in Photoshop for which I suspect Lightroom would be able to handle just as well. But I'm still too addicted to Adjustment Layers to see an efficient way of accomplishing the same thing.
For example, a typical case:
I open a photo in Photoshop, and decide to do a B&W conversion. I use a Channel Mixer adjustment layer, and quickly cycle through Yellow/Orange/Red filters. I settle on Red.
After looking at the result, I decide that the image would be a bit punchier if I increased the saturation before the B&W conversion. So I slip in a Hue/Sat adjustment layer underneath the Channel Mixer, and ramp up the Saturation.
Hmmm. Better. Now for a little contrast adjustment with a Curves layer: I go back and forth as to whether I like the result of the Curves adjustment when it is placed above or below the other adjustment layers, and I settle on above.
This workflow should be possible entirely in Lightroom, as LR is a non-destructive editor. However, it seems to me that in order to get the same results as above, I am prevented from experimenting as I described, as LR doesn't stack adjustments -- it just has a history.
Any thoughts?

Answer 1

Jim
I do most of my b&w work in Lightroom, but plenty in Photoshop too, and while you've obviously got good advice from Ian, I'll add a few other thoughts for you:
1. Create a few presets of your b&w treatments so you can preview the results of the conversions. So instead of your initial run through of the channels in PS, you simply move the mouse over these b&w preset in Develop's left panel and observe the results in the Navigator.
2. For judging alternatives, play a bit with virtual copies as an alternative to snapshots. Ctrl ' on PC, Cmd ' on Mac is all it takes to create a VC. You can view all the variations side by side in Library, Print too, and eventually make your preferred VC the master and remove the rest (if you want).
3. Eventually you may well decide that you do actually need to do the conversion in Photoshop. I find this is especially where you want to convert one part of the image differently from the rest - ie not because of deficiencies in LR's decision-making process.
John