Bagels!
Hey Reader,
I don't know if I have mentioned it in the last 20 minutes or so, but did you know I am from New Jersey? I try not to bring it up very often, but it is true. I hail from New Jersey like other amazing New Jerseyians like Dan Avidan of the GameGrumps.
I miss some things about my time living in that state I never mention. You might be thinking: "Of course! You must miss your family and friends. You must miss your home and your pets." Those things are great and all, but I am here to talk about bagels.
Bagels are a glorious and delicious thing. On the east coast, a good bagel can change your whole outlook on life. I have seen people change religions over a bagel with cream cheese. There are even web shorts about it.
Here in California, finding a bagel worth the dough it is made out of is challenging. A good bagel should be crisp on the outside and dense on the inside. Terrible bagels are soft on the outside and airy on the inside. Why would I want a bagel that is airy on the inside? If I want that, I can just get bread. Bagels are different! I am being sold bread donuts and being told it is a bagel and the madness must stop.
I was sent a care package from home. It did not contain bagels, but instead contained "Everything but the Bagel" seasoning from Trader Joes. This is another problem. "Everything" bagels should have a lot of stuff on top of it. Things like: salt, onion, garlic, and poppy seeds. The bread donuts here in that are misleadingly named "everything" are not only inferior in texture, but only have seeds on top. Where is the garlic and why does my breath smell good after eating this bagel? I should smell like garlic for a week after eating this - why have you forsaken me.
My bagel frustrations have been a topic of conversation for many years. I spoke with a food scientist about the issues with bagels. She informed me that the problem was likely the baking process. "Real" bagels are boiled and then baked. Most manufacturers steam their bagels to avoid the boiling step. I found a bagel shop that boils their bagels and was disappointing to find that it still wasn't right. Soft and squishy is not what I want!
Armed with my new everything seasoning, I sought out a real bagel recipe. I found many recipes but I tweaked a few and have crafted my own. The primary recipe that informed mine is here. This recipe has brought me as close to a real bagel experience as I have had this far from New Jersey. I share this recipe with you now.
Here is what you will need:
1.5 cups of warm water
2.75 teaspoons of yeast
4 cups of bread flower
3 tablespoons of brown sugar (1 for the dough and 2 for the boiling water - this is one of the major changes in my recipe)
1 tablespoon of honey
2 teaspoons of salt
Olive Oil for bowl
1. Add the yeast and warm water to a bowl and cover it for 5 minutes. The warm water will wake the yeast up from their hypersleep situation.
2. Add 4 cups of bread flower, 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, 2 teaspoons of salt and mix. I used a hand mixer even though the recipes called for a bread mixer. I don't have that so I made it work. I don't really know what the difference is. The bread flower is what gives your bagel the density you need. It should be thick and tough, like people from New Jersey.
3. Kneed the dough by hand for 5-10 minutes. I went way longer than the original recipe called for. I want my yeast really reacting and I want it to take as much time as possible.
4. Use oil on the dough and the bowl and leave covered for 2 hours with a clean cloth. Again, I went longer than the original recipe.
5. Cut the dough into 8 parts. I made the mistake of thinking I was working with play dough. I pulled the dough apart and tried to stick it back together. That will not work. You get one shot, so I suggest cutting it in half, then doing that again with what you have left. One more time and you have 8 bagels that are about the same size. Mine look a little lumpy because of this mistake. Don't do what I did! Shape your bagels.
6. Boil water in a pot. The original recipe called for 2 quarts but that was not nearly enough for the pot I had. I used about twice as much water. add the 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and 1 tablespoon of honey.
7. Boil each bagel for about 1.5 minutes, then flip them and repeat. Remove the bagels and sprinkle "Everything but the bagel" on top. I found that my batch didn't have any kosher salt. That will be added next time.
8. Place boiled bagels on silicone baking sheet and bake at 450 F. I used wax paper which was not a wise decision.
9. Lower temperature to 425 once bagels are in the oven for 5 minutes. Bake for a total of 20-25 minutes. I found a recipe that specifically said to lower the temperature. I tried it and liked it. I don't know how different the flavor is if you skip this step, but I am happy enough with my results that I will be doing it for all my bagels moving forward.
10. Eat your bagels.
They are damn close to perfect. I read that if you leave your dough to rise overnight in the fridge you get an even richer flavor. I will try that next. I will also use a silicone mat so I don't have to enjoy my bagel with wax paper stuck to the bottom. Frankly, they were still delicious so who cares.
I am just so happy to have a taste of home whenever I want! They are so much better than bread donuts. Maybe I will get more into cooking.
Keep making cool stuff.
Until next time,
JoshPrime
I don't know if I have mentioned it in the last 20 minutes or so, but did you know I am from New Jersey? I try not to bring it up very often, but it is true. I hail from New Jersey like other amazing New Jerseyians like Dan Avidan of the GameGrumps.
I miss some things about my time living in that state I never mention. You might be thinking: "Of course! You must miss your family and friends. You must miss your home and your pets." Those things are great and all, but I am here to talk about bagels.
Bagels are a glorious and delicious thing. On the east coast, a good bagel can change your whole outlook on life. I have seen people change religions over a bagel with cream cheese. There are even web shorts about it.
Here in California, finding a bagel worth the dough it is made out of is challenging. A good bagel should be crisp on the outside and dense on the inside. Terrible bagels are soft on the outside and airy on the inside. Why would I want a bagel that is airy on the inside? If I want that, I can just get bread. Bagels are different! I am being sold bread donuts and being told it is a bagel and the madness must stop.
I was sent a care package from home. It did not contain bagels, but instead contained "Everything but the Bagel" seasoning from Trader Joes. This is another problem. "Everything" bagels should have a lot of stuff on top of it. Things like: salt, onion, garlic, and poppy seeds. The bread donuts here in that are misleadingly named "everything" are not only inferior in texture, but only have seeds on top. Where is the garlic and why does my breath smell good after eating this bagel? I should smell like garlic for a week after eating this - why have you forsaken me.
My bagel frustrations have been a topic of conversation for many years. I spoke with a food scientist about the issues with bagels. She informed me that the problem was likely the baking process. "Real" bagels are boiled and then baked. Most manufacturers steam their bagels to avoid the boiling step. I found a bagel shop that boils their bagels and was disappointing to find that it still wasn't right. Soft and squishy is not what I want!
Armed with my new everything seasoning, I sought out a real bagel recipe. I found many recipes but I tweaked a few and have crafted my own. The primary recipe that informed mine is here. This recipe has brought me as close to a real bagel experience as I have had this far from New Jersey. I share this recipe with you now.
Here is what you will need:1.5 cups of warm water
2.75 teaspoons of yeast
4 cups of bread flower
3 tablespoons of brown sugar (1 for the dough and 2 for the boiling water - this is one of the major changes in my recipe)
1 tablespoon of honey
2 teaspoons of salt
Olive Oil for bowl
1. Add the yeast and warm water to a bowl and cover it for 5 minutes. The warm water will wake the yeast up from their hypersleep situation.
2. Add 4 cups of bread flower, 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, 2 teaspoons of salt and mix. I used a hand mixer even though the recipes called for a bread mixer. I don't have that so I made it work. I don't really know what the difference is. The bread flower is what gives your bagel the density you need. It should be thick and tough, like people from New Jersey.
3. Kneed the dough by hand for 5-10 minutes. I went way longer than the original recipe called for. I want my yeast really reacting and I want it to take as much time as possible.4. Use oil on the dough and the bowl and leave covered for 2 hours with a clean cloth. Again, I went longer than the original recipe.
5. Cut the dough into 8 parts. I made the mistake of thinking I was working with play dough. I pulled the dough apart and tried to stick it back together. That will not work. You get one shot, so I suggest cutting it in half, then doing that again with what you have left. One more time and you have 8 bagels that are about the same size. Mine look a little lumpy because of this mistake. Don't do what I did! Shape your bagels.
6. Boil water in a pot. The original recipe called for 2 quarts but that was not nearly enough for the pot I had. I used about twice as much water. add the 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and 1 tablespoon of honey.7. Boil each bagel for about 1.5 minutes, then flip them and repeat. Remove the bagels and sprinkle "Everything but the bagel" on top. I found that my batch didn't have any kosher salt. That will be added next time.
8. Place boiled bagels on silicone baking sheet and bake at 450 F. I used wax paper which was not a wise decision.
9. Lower temperature to 425 once bagels are in the oven for 5 minutes. Bake for a total of 20-25 minutes. I found a recipe that specifically said to lower the temperature. I tried it and liked it. I don't know how different the flavor is if you skip this step, but I am happy enough with my results that I will be doing it for all my bagels moving forward.10. Eat your bagels.
They are damn close to perfect. I read that if you leave your dough to rise overnight in the fridge you get an even richer flavor. I will try that next. I will also use a silicone mat so I don't have to enjoy my bagel with wax paper stuck to the bottom. Frankly, they were still delicious so who cares.
I am just so happy to have a taste of home whenever I want! They are so much better than bread donuts. Maybe I will get more into cooking.Keep making cool stuff.
Until next time,
JoshPrime
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