 |
| A fresh batch of plain bagels on the cooling rack. |
Introduction:
I'm sure many of us have enjoyed these delicious creations at some point in our lives, in various flavorful forms no less. From the plain bagel to the everything bagel, ones with fruit baked right into them, ones replacing standard baked bread for sandwiches, and even special holiday ones that only taste right coming from a place specializing in these thick, chewy morsels.
I don't 100 percent recall how it came up in conversation exactly but one day I was minding my business getting lost on the hellhole that is the internet and my husband turns to me and basically asks," Have you tried making bagels before?"
It took me a minute to think about it but even since I had dived back into the world of baking and confectionary treats I hadn't given a thought to attempting bagelcraft. Up to this point I had done carrot cakes, donuts, bread with the help of a bread maker (which I eventually gave up on the homemade bread front, more on that in another post), cupcakes, and even muffins. However, it never crossed my mind to attempt making bagels at home - and eventually pretzels - and I needed to rectify this ASAP.
Personally I have a minor addiction to the creamed cheese and this would be a perfect way to use up the constant flow of blocks I pick-up when doing the weekly grocery haul. As a baker you never know what you'll like making at home until you try, worst case scenario? You just never make it again, or you make it a few more times hoping that each time you get it just a bit more right than last.
A Little History:
Now before I touch upon the nitty gritty of the process a little history lesson is in order here. I recently learned that the bagel was actual a product originating from the Jewish communities of Poland. In Yiddish it called beygl and in Polish it's called bajgiel. Moreover, according to linguist Leo Rosten who wrote in The Joys of Yiddish about the first known mention of the Polish word bajgiel being derived from the Yiddish word beygl in the "Community Regulations" of the city of Kraków in 1610, it is stated that the food was given as a gift to women in childbirth.
Anyway, I figured that would be cool information to know since we rarely dive into the backgrounds of the foods we consume. I would like to do that a little bit more when I have the time because you start to understand why a particular dish or item is prepared or presented the way it is beyond just looking fancy or appealing to the eyes.
The Thick Of It:
My next destination after stumbling upon the history of the bagel was to find out how to actually make a bagel. What ingredients did I need to procure in order to craft a bracelet of bread? Are they standard pantry items that the everyday person would posses? When do I add my own touches like cheddar or sprinkle on sesame seeds? Am I working with yeast here and how much? All these questions answered thanks to the help of this wonderful recipe here: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/homemade-bagels/#tasty-recipes-66512
With this in mind I set to work, after acquiring the culprit flour. I hadn't experimented much with flour types beyond making wheat bread from time-to-time and at some point I had made pseudo bread flour by mixing a little cornstarch into all purpose flour. Which FYI I didn't think of doing beforehand and will attempt my next time into the foray of bagelcraft and see if they is a tangible difference between store bought bread flour and all purpose/cornstarch flour.
For those wondering why you need bread flour specifically, or at least wanting to know the difference between all purpose and bread flour, it's the higher protein content in bread flour. That's what gives the bagel it's dense chewiness. All purpose flour does not have enough to truly hold the bagel together otherwise you get donut essentially. Which is why if you can't get your hands on bread flour specifically you can attempt to fake it using, as mentioned above, all purpose with a bit of cornstarch. Again have not attempted that myself yet so not sure if it would result in an identically dense chewy bagel to just using straight up bread flour.
So, this being my first attempt at homemade bagels I was equal parts excited and nervous. The way my perfectionist of an ADHD brain works I am very hard on myself if my first attempt at these things does not go well. I am learning however to break that bad habit in order to not overwhelm myself before I even start.
Working with bagel dough is no different from any other dough or so I thought until it came time to knead and work the dough so that it can be set to rise. If you're not careful with how you're kneading this bad boy you're going to knock yourself out. The higher protein content in bread flour makes it feel like you're working with that pre-chewed gum stuck underneath the desk. I kind you not my arms were like, "Wait a minute we weren't scheduled to workout today."
Oh! I should mention here please do not try to knead this dough via mixer unless you're trying to find good reason to get a replacement. The dough as mention will be too heavy and resistant to be handled by a mixer.
I also advise against doubling the recipe due to the density of the dough unless you're out here benching in the hundreds and whatnot. Stick to making batches of eight, please trust me on this.
The dough has some serious resistance to it and it's supposed to be that way. You don't want the dough to soft and pliable. For good reason to. After you knead and work the dough you let it rise for an hour or overnight, then you bring it back out and just divide that baby into eight pieces and the real hard part begins.
 |
| After resting, adding some cheddar to a few. |
Don't forget to add your mix-ins before kneading if you are making something like cinnamon raisin. Alternatively if you want multiple kinds of bagels divide the dough AFTER kneading it then in separate bowls craft each bagel type. You could also just dedicate each bath of eight to being a specific type of bagel. You have options.
After the kneading and rising the process is: essentially divide dough into medium sized-ish pieces (due to the way the dough is made it will "shrink", more on this later)-> shape into as round of a ball as you can get-> punch about a 2 inch hole in the middle-> space them out on a tray and let rise while preparing honey water bath->bathe them for about 2 minutes each->set back on tray while waiting for oven to preheat->brush with egg wash and add sprinkle on toppings->bake->let cook->shove into pie hole.
The part that bugs me the most is the shaping part of the ordeal. Now if you are fancy you might be able to get away with donut shaping/cutting tools (if those exist didn't really look into it). After rolling the piece of dough into as round of a shape as you can get it, you take your pointer finger and stab it in the center to create a hole and then stretch the hole while trying to maintain the circular shape of the bagel to about 2 inches and set it down to let it rise. This is where you will know if you did it right, as the bagel rises while you work on the others the dough will kind of shrink back on itself.
So if you did not make the hole wide enough it will close back up while rising or if you didn't make the ball big enough you'll wind up with mini bagel. Unfortunately for me my bagels didn't come out as uniform as I wanted because I didn't shape and smooth them out as well as I could have, I feel.
That aside, the next step is quite important and does a few things for the bagel, the water bath. As stated in the recipe I linked it cooks the exterior just enough to help maintain the bagel's shape during baking as well as giving it that glossy finish you often see in magazines and pictures. So in essence it's a precook before actually cooking. If you don't have honey, sugar is also a good alternative to add to the water bath, you just need something to help aide in the caramelization process.
Finally, before baking the bagels themselves you want to do an egg wash to also assist in the crisp browning as they bake. This would also be where you sprinkle on your sesame seeds or cheese or whatever top that isn't supposed to be baked within the bagel itself. The egg wash will help them to stick and not just bake onto the bagel only to be flicked off with the gentlest of breezes.
After all that you are free to shove your bagel babes into the oven at 425°F (218°C) for about 20-25 minutes.
Personal Insight:
FOLX! let me tell you, homemade bagels are literally just as good as the store bought stuff and lasts just as long. Having your own bagels on demand is so much sweeter than even having your own loaf of bread on demand. We tore them poor thangs up y'all and I don't regret a single card that went to my hips. The only thing, and this is a personal thing, is I want to work on the presentation of them a lot more, not being able to get what I feel is the perfect round shape while creating the hole kind of hurts me mentally. I know I will get better the more I make these and work on my technique but that's really my only sticking point to be honest.
One of the few batches I was proud of!
Going forward I definitely want to experiment more with specialty bagels like blueberry, oat, cinnamon raisin etc. These go around I kept them plain save for a few cheese topped ones. I didn't want to venture too far outside of the circle for my first few go around because I needed to make sure I had a handle on the bagelcraft itself. Now that I that I am familiar with the basics all hell just might break loose. Just might fuck around and venture into making pizza bagels if I'm not careful.
I employ you guys to give this recipe a chance and see if you don't agree. For me there is so much more enjoyment in making these bagels than making bread loaves because even after the first day they still taste like you baked them that day.
Final Thoughts:
I expect to make them at least once a week if possible. Do not be afraid to add a bit more liquid if you feel the dough is too dense. On one of my batches I did not do that and the bagels felt a bit too dense, it could of snatched dentures out someone's mouth if they weren't careful.
Oh I did just remember another slight thing that might turn some people all. Bread flour is not as cheap as all purpose flour. The brand I bought which is also recommended in the recipe is King Author, which was roughly about $3.00 where I live. Now if it's cheaper for you or you can find an alternate brand that cheaper then go ahead and roll with that, provided it's also good quality. If your pinching pennies you might not be making this every week, maybe every other week if that and only in small batches. Otherwise you'll run right through you flour supply fast and it will add up.
Now the real question comes will I still by the premade ones from the store? or swear off them and only craft them at home when the mood strikes me?
What about you guys? If you try to craft bagels on your own let me know how it goes! Will you convert? Will you save it as a neat little trick for when you're able to get together with friends once this pandemic blows over?
Comments
Post a Comment