Simple bagels

[Andrews5040]

Excellent recipe Dan, I used to loath bagels but now

The only thing I am having trouble with is the bagels sticking to the tray when baked. I have tried a lightly oiled tray (stick), heavily oiled tray (didn't stick but too oily even after mopping it off) and flour (stick like super glue). Any other ideas or is this the one awkward part of these outstanding bagels?

Cheers,
Alan

[iLikePie]

I have sometimes found that to be a problem and sometimes not... Usually i just lightly oil as instructed and find that I may need to run a spatula under them but it isn't too hard.

Perhaps part of it is baking alittle longer so that the 'crust' forms on the bottom?
Or otherwise try with some parchment/baking paper on the tray instead, i think i've done that before with success. Not sure if it makes much difference in terms of the crust texture.

[gilesb]

Having just returned from New York, I'm in the mood to try making my own bagels.

If I was to reduce the yeast and let the shaped dough rise in the fridge overnight, could I then poach them (and bake them) straight from the fridge the next morning, or would I need to let them come to room temperature first?

I always like the idea of fresh bread for breakfast, but don't like having to get out of bed hours in advance.

[gilesb]

First attempt!



They smell like bagels and taste like bagels, and have a satisfying chewy denseness, but much as I'd tried to over-estimate the size of the hole when shaping, it wasn't enough and so they lack that final, most bagel of characteristics. Next time...

[chefcdp]

Gilesb, Yes, you can retard the dough and shape and finish the bagels with the cold retarded dough. I have just done this so it is not one of my sometimes foggy recollections.

You do have to let the shaped bagels rise a bit before poaching. The easiest way to check the rise is to save our a little ball of dough and see if it floats in a bowl of water. When the dough ball floats, the rise is sufficient. You can use a whole bagel, but I don't want to drown my masterpiece :>)

The cold dough is harder to work with because it is not as pliable as warm dough. I had a little trouble with the rope method because the dough kept retracting after I rolled it. The poke a hole and twirl method worked better with the cold dough.

I have retarded bagel dough as long as three days in my refrigerator. That is about 38°F.

Regards,

Charles

[gilesb]

Thanks for the info Charles. Your method differs to the way I did it in the end. I shaped the dough (using the poke-a-hole-and-twirl technique - but didn't twirl enough), and put the shaped bagels in the fridge overnight. The next morning I left them out of the fridge while the oven heated up, then poached (they floated) and baked, and the result was as you can see

[alatham]

I've made this recipe twice. The first time, the bagels floated when poached. The second time, they sunk ... The second time was also when my partner and I were having some friends over for brunch (of course!). I decided to go ahead and bake the bagels anyway and they still came out great ...

Just wanted to mention this in case someone else has bagels that sink ... Bake 'em off anyway, they may still be great!