Bagels

A recent online discussion about bagels inspired me to make some this morning. Mine are based on a sourdough starter and took nearly 8 hours from start to finish (not including the 12 hours needed to build up the starter). Bagel making really is a laborious process, and you have to start the morning with deep breathing to build up your chi first.

Anyway, here are some pics :

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Cheers, Celia

Yum!

Celia you are a Goddess!

(Synchronicity: I had breakfast with my staff this morning at a place called Bagelmania. I had a green chile bagel with my omelet. )

WOW.

It is nearly impossible to find a decent bagel in California. I badly need to learn this skill.

WOW.

It is nearly impossible to find a decent bagel in California. I badly need to learn this skill.

Expand that to the United States of America........even in NYC one has to struggle to find a proper bagel. All the union bagel bakers are dead, or too old to practice their craft any longer, and the machine made ones can't compare.

There's no more bagels, only rolls with holes.
I'm told good, old fashioned bagels can be had in Montreal, but I'm not about to make a special trip to find out, eh?

Celia, if you don't mind, how much do your bagels weigh?
They look to be at least 4 ounces (112 grams) - am I close?
The bagels of my youth were smaller - probably closer to 2.5 ounces - they had a shiny, hard, outer "shell" which yielded to a tender yet chewey crumb. Picked up hot from the bagel store, rushed home and slathered with butter, they were as close to heaven as I'll likely ever get.

I may actually try this. Yours look very professional. Nice job.

Celia those bagels look great. Bagels are on my to do list just haven't gotten to them yet. The formula I have isn't for sourdough. Do you mind sharing your recipe?

A recent online discussion about bagels inspired me to make some this morning.

Sorry, those are not real bagels. Unless of course you imported NYC tap water to make them.

Just kidding, *C*!

One question, Celia: Does the sourdough starter impart much of a sourdough flavor to the bagels?

They look fantastic.

Thank you all for the positive feedback. I was a little apprehensive posting the pics - I'd heard some people can be very hardline about their bagels..

Dave, actually, I'm sure you're right, because I haven't even seen a real NY bagel, let alone tasted one ! I have no idea at all what they're supposed to be like. I first tried to make bagels because I had some homesick American friends who just couldn't find a reasonable bagel here. They seemed to like them though, although they tolerate them far more salty than I do !

John, I'm impressed ! I weighed one and the bagels are 3.95 oz, you're gooood. I know they're bigger than they "should" be, but this size is particularly good for my ravenous 15 year old to take to school for lunch.

Mike, you do get a bit of the sourdough flavour, but I'm so used to it now that I don't notice. I find now I notice when it's a commercially yeasted bread !

Will post some recipes shortly...Sunday am here, and I need a cup of tea first...

Celia

Dave, actually, I'm sure you're right, because I haven't even seen a real NY bagel, let alone tasted one ! I have no idea at all what they're supposed to be like.

Celia,

I will mention again that I was just joking. When I lived in Los Angeles and worked with some rather, um, uptight ex-New Yorkers, they whined about the bagels I brought in and branded them as "crap" because they were not bagels from New York. When I asked them what the difference was between the bagels I brought in and the bagels they had in New York, one of the chaps from New York said that NYC water is the key to making a good bagel.

Right.

Dave, actually, I'm sure you're right, because I haven't even seen a real NY bagel, let alone tasted one ! I have no idea at all what they're supposed to be like.

I will mention again that I was just joking.

Hey, I knew that.

Ok, some recipes. For anyone who might want to try making their own bagels without sourdough - I've tried this recipe from the NEW YORK COOKBOOK by Molly O'Neill. It's the recipe from a place called Bagel Oasis in "the Jamaica secion of Queens". It's a nice recipe, but I found it very salty - however, my American friends really really loved it. I should point out that I made this recipe with bread flour, not all-purpose.

Duane, my recipe for sourdough bagels is based on one from Northwest Sourdough. This is the place I bought my starters from, and there is a section there called Special Recipes, that you can purchase access to for $4.50. Highly recommend it, as there is some great stuff in there, including a wicked method for making Sourdough English Muffins. The lady who runs the site, Teresa, is really helpful, and has a great blog of her own baking exploits.


Starter

I start with a small amount of starter from the fridge. At lunch time the day before baking, I feed it with half a cup of bread flour and half a cup of filtered water. That night I give it a second feed of 1 cup of flour and 1 cup water. This gives me the 3 cups of starter required for the recipe the following morning.


Bagel Recipe

Makes 25 big bagels

• 3 cups sourdough starter
• 2.5 cups water
• 45ml (3 Tbsp or 9 tsp) Malt Syrup
• 4 tsp fine Sea Salt
• 10 cups bread flour (bakers' flour)

Extra for kettling

• 1 Tbsp Malt Syrup
• 1 Tbsp fine Sea Salt


Mix starter, water and malt syrup in large mixing bowl. Whisk flours and salt together in separate bowl. Mix flour into liquid ingredients, mix well with hands until combined, rest 10 minutes, covered. Turn onto a lightly oiled bench and knead 10 minutes or until smooth. Return to cleaned, oiled bowl, cover and set in warm place to rise 4 hours or until doubled. (Note that this is a very stiff dough!)

Turn risen dough out onto bench and knead briefly. Divide into 120g (4oz) portions. Knead and pinch each portion into a round smooth ball. Form each ball into a doughnut shape by punching a hole through the middle and twirling the dough around both index fingers, stretching as you go. Hole should be quite big. Shape dough to look like a tyre with a large hole. (This bit takes a bit of practice. I find it works best if I put my thumbs in the hole, and shape the dough with the palms of my hands).

Place shaped dough on a bench or tray lined with Bake and sprinkled with flour, leave room to rise. Sprinkle a little more flour on top. Cover with a tea towel and leave to prove another 1.5 hours.

After an hour, preheat oven to 200C (400F). At the same time, put the kettle on to get the water ready ! Bring to boil a large pot of water with at least 3 - 4 inches of water. Add 1 Tbsp malt syrup and 1 Tbsp salt, and bring to a rolling boil. Boil (“kettle”) bagels, three or four at a time, for 1.5 minutes on each side. Remove with a slotted spoon, and dry gently with a clean non-linting tea towel. Place on baking tray lined with Bake.

Brush tops of bagels with egg wash (1 egg + 1 Tbsp water), then sprinkle with toppings if desired.

Bake for 12 minutes, then turn trays around for even baking, and bake for an additional 8 minutes or until golden brown - total baking time about 20 minutes.

Cheers, Celia

Beautiful bagels, just beautiful and I am sure the taste is wonderful. I've never had home made. I've tried bagels all over town and we think our Raley's has the best. They are made fresh every morning and must be popular. because we arrive there after going to the gym, about 7 a.m. and they are already picked over. I like to buy an assortment and the ones with a myriad of very tiny seeds are my favorite...or is it the onion....or maybe the cheddar jalepeno...hmm - I think it depends on my mood that morning.

Nice. I've never even considered making bagels at home.

Actually, I'm from Nyc, and I've never even considered eating bagels outside of Nyc. But, that's another story..

Is the maple syrup addition common?

Maple, no, but malt syrup, absolutely.

There are a LOT of excellent bagels to be had outside NY. But it is a pretty small area.

Duane, my recipe for sourdough bagels is based on one from Northwest Sourdough.

Celia I have never seen that web site before and I hunted high and low for everything sourdough. I finally made my own starter since it seemed like the terroir kind of thing to do. We do like fresh bagels at work so I think I feel the urge to make up a batch soon.

[ I think I feel the urge to make up a batch soon.

I am all in favor of going with one's urges.

Duane, my recipe for sourdough bagels is based on one from Northwest Sourdough.

Celia I have never seen that web site before and I hunted high and low for everything sourdough. I finally made my own starter since it seemed like the terroir kind of thing to do. We do like fresh bagels at work so I think I feel the urge to make up a batch soon.

Duane, I can't tell you how impressed I am that you made your own starter. I ended up with scary strange-coloured mould. Did you use grapes ? Or yoghurt ? There is a book I recommend highly on sourdough called The Handmade Loaf by Dan Lepard. If you do get it though, be aware that there are some corrections, and they're listed on his website http://www.danlepard.com (in the forum). I think it's sold in the US as The Art of Handmade Bread.

Teresa at Northwest Sourdough is a real sweetheart - she sent the starters all the way to Australia for me, no dramas at all. I was a tad concerned about small ziploc bags of white powder coming through the mail, but they cleared customs without any problems. If you look at her blog, there are some pics of her bagels, which look wonderful. The two starters I use are her San Francisco one, and her Northwest Sourdough one. The NW one is particularly vigorous, and can get really lovely and sour. I've purchased but never tried her Alaskan starter - it's hard enough to keep two starters going at once, let alone three !

If you do make the sourdough bagels, I'd strongly recommend you get some malt syrup. It took me a little while to track down over here, but it really does seem to make a difference to the flavour. Would love to hear how you go !

Cheers, Celia

Beautiful bagels, just beautiful and I am sure the taste is wonderful. I've never had home made. I've tried bagels all over town and we think our Raley's has the best. They are made fresh every morning and must be popular. because we arrive there after going to the gym, about 7 a.m. and they are already picked over. I like to buy an assortment and the ones with a myriad of very tiny seeds are my favorite...or is it the onion....or maybe the cheddar jalepeno...hmm - I think it depends on my mood that morning.

Karen, thank you, and thanks also for the suggestion - I never thought to top them with cheese or chile until you and Cynthia mentioned it. Is the chile ON the bagel, or IN it ?

In it, Celia. Fantastic. The hotter the better, because the dough seems to take the edge off it.

Disclaimer: I am a chilehead and like extreme heat... as long as it has excellent flavor.

Can't malt syrup be found at brewing supply stores?

Robert, I found malt grains at the brewing store, not malt syrup. But I did find a supermarket over here that stocks it with the hot chocolate mixes - over here, malted milk is still a bedtime drink.

Possibly what I'm thinking of is the malt extract I get with my beer kits, along with some grains and the other stuff. The extract has the consistancy of sorghum syrup, or thick molasses.