Bagel Baking Adventures--- Take one

There are a few items I always crave when I am missing Seattle.... Bubble Tea, Pho, and Bagels. Here in cold, blizzardy Minnesnowta the first two are hard to come by. Even good bagels can be difficult to find. Hence, I have set out to remedy my cravings by making my own bagels. Perhaps someday I will also try to make Pho and bubble tea... but that will be for another day.

I started this adventure with the dream of someday opening up my own bagel shop. A quaint little store serving bagels and other tasty treats. Although I am quite a ways a way from making this dream a reality, I thought I could at least start by testing out a few bagel recipes. This here, is my first attempt ever at making bagels. Even with a few bumps in the road, they still turned out pretty tasty! My goal now is to try a new recipe each week, tweaking them until I find a recipe that suits my fancy.... soft and chewy on the inside with a crunchy exterior.

This first recipe I tested came from Peter Reinhart's book Artisan Breads Every Day. A perfect recipe to try for your first bagel adventure. As I did my research to determine which recipe to use, I found this to be the most common/well respected recipe out there. Although my final product did not look anything like the images of his bagels (takes practice, I guess), they did have a delicious, real bagel taste. As my bagels improve I will keep you all posted. Until then, here is the recipe I used.

Peter Reinhart's Bagel Recipe 

~ makes 6-8 bagels~ 

Ingredients: 

~ For the Dough (Day I)

• 3 1/2 cups of unbleached bread flour
• 1 cup + 2 Tbsp lukewarm water (95 F)
• 1 1/2 tsp instant yeast 
• 1 Tbsp barley malt syrup (you can find this at most supermarkets) 
• 1 1/2 tsp salt 

~ For the poaching liquid (Day II)

• 2-3 quarts of water (at least 4 inches deep)
• 1 1/2 Tbsp barley malt syrup 
• 1 Tbsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt 

Directions: 

Preparing the Dough (Day I) 

 Mix together the yeast, malt syrup, salt and lukewarm water in a small bowl. Once combined, pour the mixture over the bread flour and mix with a sturdy spoon (or mixer with dough hook) for 3-5 minutes until well blended. At this point, the flour should be hydrated and forming a large, coarse ball. If there is still dry flour, add a bit more water until all the flour is combined into the dough. Once the dough has formed, let it sit for 5 minutes.

After the five minutes has passed, kneed the dough on a lightly floured surface for another five minutes until the dough becomes satiny, and slightly tacky. If the dough is too tacky (sticky), add a little bit more flour. The dough should feel very smooth. Sculpt the dough into a ball and place in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise for one hour in a slightly warm environment.

Shaping the Bagels (Day I)

 While the dough is rising, prepare 1 (or 2 if making 8 bagels) baking sheets by lining with parchment paper and lightly coating with oil. Once you are ready to shape the bagels, divide the dough into 6 or 8 pieces and roll into balls using the palm of your hand. If the dough is not sticking to the surface (allowing you to roll the dough), wipe down the surface with a damp washcloth and try again.

After you have your 6 or 8 balls of dough, begin to roll each one into an 8 inch rope, tapering off at the ends. Again, adding a little water to your rolling surface will help the dough catch and roll better. Once you have your rope, place your index, middle and ring finger in the middle of the rope and fold the ends together to make the bagel. This website has some very helpful pictures to explain this process. After you have shaped your bagels, place them on the baking sheets and lightly mist the bagels with oil. Cover the bagels tightly with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight.

Boiling the Bagels (Day II) 

 Once you are ready to bake the bagels, take them out of the fridge and let them sit at room temperature for 60-90 minutes. After this time has passed and prior to boiling the bagels, you will need to test the bagels to determine whether they are ready to be boiled... also known as the "float test". In a small bowl of cold water, add one of your bagels and see if it floats. If it does, your bagels are ready to be boiled. If not, remove the bagel and return it to the tray and try again in 10-20 minutes. NOTE: I tried and tried to get my bagels to float using this test, but had no luck. I eventually just decided to go ahead with the next step, which turned out just fine, as my bagels did float in the boiling water and still tasted delicious.... next week I will let you know any changes with the float test.

Thirty minutes prior to baking time, preheat the oven to 500 F. While the oven is heating, bring a large pot of water (3-4 quarts) to boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer and add the barley malt syrup, baking soda, salt and stir. Gently slide your bagels into the pot (3 at a time) and let them poach for 60-90 seconds per side. Your bagels should float up to the surface within 15 seconds. However if they don't (as some of mine didn't), you can gently slide a slotted spoon under the bagel and flip it over, this should help the bagel float to the top.

Using a slotted spoon gently take each bagel out of the pot and place on a lightly oiled, parchment paper-covered baking sheet.

Baking the Bagels (Day II)

Once the bagels are ready to be baked, place the pan(s) in the oven and lower the temperature to 450 F. Bake for 8 minutes, and check the bottom of the bagels to make sure they are not burning. Return the bagels to the oven, rotating the pan(s) 180 degrees. If you have more than 1 pan, swap racks to even out the heat distribution. Bake for another 8-12 minutes, or until the bagels are golden-brown.

Remove the bagels from the oven and let them cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes prior to slicing them.... I know, this will take quite a bit of will power, but trust me. It's worth it! The bagels taste best slightly toasted or warmed up. I ate my first one with just a bit of butter and it was delicious.

Note: 

• I decided to do plain bagels for my first attempt, however if you would like to add toppings, you can do so after the bagels have been boiled and before they go in the oven. 

Food for Thought: 

• Bagels (and other breads) made from scratch not only taste better than store bought, they also only contain fewer, and more familiar ingredients. Have you ever purchased bagels from a grocery store and looked at the bag to see the ingredients list? You probably noticed that there are a lot more ingredients than the ones listed in this recipe. Processed foods require more, and different ingredients (and some chemicals) to help them last longer. By baking your own bagels, you can be in charge of exactly what you are putting in your body, avoiding the unhealthy ingredients found in many grocery store-bought bagels.