Bagels are a family favorite! My kids would eat bagels for breakfast, lunch and dinner if I let them. I learned to make sourdough bagels from The Artisan Bread School, though I've not used the instructor's recipe since I've not woken my leaven yet. Instead, I've been using a recipe that has given me consistent results similar to New Style bagels! Chewy on the outside and soft inside. I am very curious to find out how Reinhart's recipe compared to what I've been using (see photo). I mean how much different can a recipe be.
The Process: A sponge is made the night before. I used Sir Lancelot Hi-gluten flour which has 14% protein compared to the 12% bread flour. I did notice a significant difference switching to high gluten. In a couple of hours, I was surprised to see how bubbly and alive the sponge was. (By the way, if you are lucky to have Whole Foods nearby, you can purchase 50-pound bags of flour from the bakery. I bought a high gluten flour for $27, and organic bread flour for $25 - a bargain!)
I dumped the sponge into the KA mixer and adding huge amounts of flour, dissolved yeast, salt and malt. Malt gives the bagels the wonderful flavor and appearance. Having made bagels before, I was confident in getting the dough to have the right feel so that forming the bagel would be effortless. Bagels were formed right away using the long rope method. Having made the mistake of not measuring the dough the very first time I made bagels, I made sure the pieces were at least 4.5 ounces. I ended up with 4.5-4.75, making 12 large bagels.
I dumped the sponge into the KA mixer and adding huge amounts of flour, dissolved yeast, salt and malt. Malt gives the bagels the wonderful flavor and appearance. Having made bagels before, I was confident in getting the dough to have the right feel so that forming the bagel would be effortless. Bagels were formed right away using the long rope method. Having made the mistake of not measuring the dough the very first time I made bagels, I made sure the pieces were at least 4.5 ounces. I ended up with 4.5-4.75, making 12 large bagels.
The formed bagels were placed onto 2 sheet pans, prepared with parchment paper with semolina sprinkles. Out of habit, I used this method instead of misting the bagels with spray oil. But I did mist the plastic bag with the spray oil before laying them on top of the bagels. Bagels sat for 20 minutes at room temperature and passed the "float test" with flying colors. I decided to refrigerate them overnight. I like the idea of being able to use this recipe the day it's made or the following day. I notice the bagels are on the puffy side. Wonder if I should have measured them closer to 4.25-4.5 ounces.
The next day, the refrigerated bagels were boiled for 2 minutes (1minute per side) in boiling water with baking soda. Out of habit, I immediately dunked the first 2 boiled bagels in very cold water. Wanting to compare recipes, I didn't use the cold water technique with the rest of the bagels and instead, placed them on prepared pans (parchment paper with semolina sprinkles). I sprinkled sesame/poppy seed combo on the cold water version and left the rest plain- curious to see a difference.
Results: I judged this recipe based on appearance and taste. As far as appearance is concerned, they looked somewhat deformed. Having made bagels plenty of times, I've gotten pretty good at rolling them. I wonder if the bagels would've looked better if I measured smaller pieces of bagel dough as the recipe suggested.
Tastewise, I was very disappointed. The first bite tasted like baking soda. Didn't taste the malt flavor. I ate half the bagel with peanut butter to disguise the bland flavor. My daughter ate one with honey and chocolate chips. Uugh. That would mask ANY flavor. Although the first bagel she cut into was underbaked. I followed the instructions of 10 minutes or till it was golden brown. They looked done after 10 minutes. I really looked forward in trying this recipe because 1) a friend of mine raved about this recipe being the best batch she's made and 2) I wanted to compare it with the current recipe I am using.
Lesson learned. There are many variations in making osso buco as there are making bagels. While I find all baking experiences to be a learning one, I found this recipe to be unpalatable. In fact, I was too embarrassed to share them with my friend whom I give all my extra breads to. Won't be using this recipe, but look forward to making bagels this weekend for breakfast! By the way, the photo above is a shot of my current recipe.
Tastewise, I was very disappointed. The first bite tasted like baking soda. Didn't taste the malt flavor. I ate half the bagel with peanut butter to disguise the bland flavor. My daughter ate one with honey and chocolate chips. Uugh. That would mask ANY flavor. Although the first bagel she cut into was underbaked. I followed the instructions of 10 minutes or till it was golden brown. They looked done after 10 minutes. I really looked forward in trying this recipe because 1) a friend of mine raved about this recipe being the best batch she's made and 2) I wanted to compare it with the current recipe I am using.
Lesson learned. There are many variations in making osso buco as there are making bagels. While I find all baking experiences to be a learning one, I found this recipe to be unpalatable. In fact, I was too embarrassed to share them with my friend whom I give all my extra breads to. Won't be using this recipe, but look forward to making bagels this weekend for breakfast! By the way, the photo above is a shot of my current recipe.
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