Bagels

[Mike Nolan]

I made a batch of bagels today, and since some people have been having problems shaping and baking them, I thought I'd show how I did it in 7 photos.

The recipe I'm using is Peter Reinhart's recipe in Artisan Breads Every Day. It makes about 27 ounces of dough, and we like smaller bagels, so I made 9 of them. The poaching water has both salt and baking soda in it.

First I shape them into flattened balls and let them rest for a few minutes, then I poke a hole in the middle and stretch them. Here's about half way through that process:

Here's a shot showing 3 bagels that have been boiled and 2 that have not yet been boiled:

Here's a close up shot of one right after it came out of the poaching water:

Here's one with 4 cheese blend (asiago, parmesan, romano and provolone), before and after baking:

Here's one that has poppy seeds on it, on both sides though you can't see the bottom:

They were baked at 500 degrees for 6 minutes, rotated, and then baked another 5 minutes at 450 degrees.

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• This topic was modified 4 years, 8 months ago by Mike Nolan.
• This topic was modified 4 years, 8 months ago by Mike Nolan.
• This topic was modified 4 years, 8 months ago by Mike Nolan.
• This topic was modified 4 years, 8 months ago by Mike Nolan.
• This topic was modified 4 years, 8 months ago by Mike Nolan.

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[RiversideLen]

Those look real nice, Mike.

[Joan Simpson]

Looks great!

[BakerAunt]

I'll be over with the cream cheese....

Thanks for posting the pictures, Mike. I am working up my courage to try making bagels.

[Mike Nolan]

My granddaughter learned to shape bagels in about 5 minutes, so don't sweat that part. The dough is pretty easy to make, it needs to be on the stiff side, Peter describes it as satiny and not at all tacky.

I let this batch rise for 2 hours because I was on a conference call. Didn't cause any problems.

Don't over-boil them, 30 seconds per side is plenty. I've tried different baking temperatures and times, I like the 500/450 one best. These could probably have stood another 30-60 seconds in the oven today, they usually get a little darker and chewier on the surface. But they made a great supper tonight with some corned beef.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Look great! Like BA, I am working up the nerve to make them. Three ounces of dough sounds good. Do you know how much the finished bagels weighed. This has become my new quest - to figure out how much mixed dough will yield after proofing and rising and baking.

It probably varies from recipe to recipe based on ingredients but I'd love to see a rule of thumb.

[Mike Nolan]

The poppy seed ones weigh 2.65 to 2.7 ounces each, the ones with the cheese on them weigh more than 3 ounces because of the cheese on top.

4.5 ounces is pretty much the deli standard size, though I've seen some that were around 6 ounces, way too big! Unless you have really tiny hands, it is hard to use the 'wrap around the hand' method with a 3 ounce bagel.

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