Bagel Bakers’ Strike

[aaronatthedoublef]

This article is fascinating.

I almost called this "Why Bagels Suck" but that seemed a little rude. It's amazing what used to go into making bagels. None of the bakeries here come even close to this. We had bagels from the place my wife and kids like the other day and I just looked at them and how sad they are. They are not as bad as Dunkin Donuts bagels but close. I need to find an old school bagel baker some place and learn from him.

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[Mike Nolan]

I was introduced to bagels in 1968 during my sophomore year at Northwestern. A dorm mate used to drive down to Ashkenaz Deli in the Rogers Park neighborhood (at the Morse Avenue El stop) to pick up bagels and lox. (They must have had two dozen different varieties of lox available, too.)

At the time, they still hand-rolled their bagels (or so the sign proclaimed.) However, by the time we lived in an apartment a few blocks north of there, in 1972, the sign was gone and the bagels weren't quite as good.

Ashkenaz burned down in the late 1970's, I believe, and the Rogers Park neighborhood, which had a number of Jewish stores and restaurants, including a kosher butcher and another butcher that, while not kosher, was the finest butcher shop I've ever been in, is now largely Vietnamese.

For those who don't believe someone could shape over 800 bagels in an hour, there are some YouTube videos available showing how it was done. (I think one of them was from someone who claimed the record, over 1200 bagels an hour.)

See 1979 bagel film for one example.

Good luck finding an old-time bagelmaker to teach you the craft. There probably aren't many of them left, and I suspect they still protect their craft!

• This reply was modified 6 years, 8 months ago by Mike Nolan.

[Mike Nolan]

Last year Melissa Weller, the head baker at the bagel and bakery program at Sadelle's in NY, held a two-day class on bagels, bialys and babkas in Montclair NJ, for members of the Bread Bakers Guild of America. Maybe she'll repeat it some time.

Many of the BBGA classes are on the east coast or the west coast, but Jory Downer, owner of Bennison's Bakery and a member of the 2005 Gold Medal Coupe du Monde team, is doing one on laminated doughs in Chicago in September. Tempting! And the Chocolate Academy has said they'll be doing some kind of 10th anniversary celebration the week of Sep 23rd, might be reason enough to go to Chicago for a week!

[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks for the heads up. I'll look for a bagel/bialy class.

And I am always happy to go to Chicago. Thanks for the heads up.

[BakerAunt]

Fascinating article! Thanks for posting the link, Aaron.

Did you see that KAF has introduced bagel molds? https://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/bagel-molds
I've wondered if it is useful or a gimmick.

I like the bagels that Einsteins produces, although I doubt they are authentic. There was a great, independent bagel place in Lubbock called Hoots, but they felt that they had to offer other items (waffles, sweet rolls) when they were forced to change location in the shopping center in which they were located, and they lasted less than a year. I don't like the ones that Trader Joes sells, nor do I like any of those on the grocery aisle.

Maybe once my kitchen is redone I'll consider trying to make my own--at least once.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Bagel molds!?! Gimmick! The bagels on the page don't look very good either.

Also beware of places that offer bagel holes... 😉

[Mike Nolan]

Bagel molds?? Now, you can do it the classic ‘wrap around your hand’ way, or you can do it the ‘poke a hole in the middle’ way, but a mold is just SO WRONG!

We prefer bagels made with about 3 ounces of dough as opposed to the much bigger commercial bagels, which are more like 4.5 ounces each, if not bigger. (I think the Wolferman ones are closer to 6 ounces each.) 3 ounces is not enough dough for me to do it the ‘wrap around your hand’ way, but I have fat hands.

[bakergirl]

Last year we were in Salt Lake City for my husband's eye surgery. My daughter and I stopped in at Einstein's Bagels for breakfast. When I ordered, I asked the clerk if the bagels were first boiled. He looked at me and asked if I were kidding, but since it was only his second day, he offered to ask the supervisor. The answer later was "yes." I have always been tempted to try bagels, but no such effort as of yet.

[Joan Simpson]

Welcome Bakergirl.I tried bagels one time from a King Arthur recipe they were just OK never tried them again.
The best bagels I've ever eaten were from a little bagel shop in NJ when our son lived there.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 8 months ago by Joan Simpson.

[Mike Nolan]

Bagels aren't hard to make, though most home bakers will boil them in an alkali solution made with baking soda rather than with cooking lye. (You really do need to wear gloves and use eye protection when using lye. I suspect you have to be careful what kind of pot you use for the lye solution, too, though I've not researched that.)

Several years ago an article in the New York Times suggested taking baking soda and baking it in a hot oven, turning it from sodium bicarbonate to sodium carbonate. That will make a more strongly alkaline solution, though still quite a bit weaker than one made with lye (sodium hydroxide.) I still haven't tried this.

Though I've done it a few times, I don't usually take the time to retard the bagels for 24 hours to develop the classic sour tang of a NY bagel, I can't say anybody's noticed.

I've tried several bagel dough recipes, the one I like best is Peter Reinhart's recipe in his Artisan book. He puts some barley syrup in the dough (and in the boiling water)

[BakerAunt]

I actually bought barley malt from KAF last time I ordered, so an attempt at non-lye bagels will be in my future, although I actually bought the barley malt for a cookie recipe, but at the moment I do not know where that recipe is.

[Mike Nolan]

The thing about barley malt, though, is that it colors the dough, so your bagels won't have a classic white interior. I like the flavor it brings, though. Non-diastatic barley malt powder is nearly colorless, and brings a similar sweetness but without the color.

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