Sunday, June 27, 2010

Bagels Again!

Since I couldn't make bagels when I was last home, I wanted to make a batch for myself.  And this time I had all of the necessary ingredients, like milk powder and yeast.  (Using yeast is probably "cheating" a little, but I'm not really pretending to be a sourdough expert here.)
And it was a success!  Only one small problem - I discovered after I had mixed up the dough that I used AP flour instead of bread flour!  That could explain why it took so long to get good gluten development.  I think they still turned out okay though.
This time I made some everything, some cinnamon sugar, some sesame seed, and some plain.  I ate a cinnamon sugar one this morning and it was delicious :)
I think I may have discovered what caused my troubles with rising last time.  At first I thought it was maybe since I used only sourdough starter, and no additional yeast.  And I thought that was confirmed when my first batch (shown below) turned out fine, with actual holes.  But then when I made a second batch just now, and had the same problems.  I think it may be related to how long the dough sits out before you boil the bagels.  This morning, I had the bagels sitting out for a while, while I was letting the water boil and the oven preheat.  When I made the second batch, I took the bagels out of the fridge right before boiling.  Maybe the bagels need some time to rest first?  The next time I make them, I'll test boil a few straight from the fridge and see if that is the problem.  And maybe I'll remember to use bread flour!

My 12 little dough balls

This time I made the holes bigger so I wouldn't have the same problem as last time


After being boiled



 A perfectly retained hole, post-baking!

These were sticky and sweet!

2 comments:

Memória said...

Yeaaa, bagels!! I remember making bagels around Christmas time. It was an unforgettable, yet fun experience. Your bagels look perfect!

Delicious Dishings said...

These bagels look great! That's one thing I've been wanting to make at home that I haven't tried yet. Maybe with some KAF everything bagel topping.

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