Sourdough Bagels
Yes of course you can make plain bagels, with dried yeast, you don't need sourdough. I just used it, because I have sourdough. But that aside, bagels are almost synonymous with New York. A special type of bread that is first cooked then baked, giving it a chewy skin.
I have tried to make bagels so many times and I always end up with an overly chewy texture. So this time, I decided to try different variations. I used the same dough but treated each portion differently.
Recipe
50g sourdough starter
100ml water
a pinch of salt
150g bread flour
1 tsp honey (optional)
1 egg for egg wash (optional)
nuts, seeds for coating (optional)
1. Mix the starter, bread flour and salt in a bowl, adding water as you go along, until a dough forms. If you like a sweeter bagel you can add some honey. Tip the dough out and knead for 15 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. Leave the dough to proof for at least 4 hours at room temperature, until the dough doubles in size.
2. Knead and fold the dough gently before dividing into 4 equal balls, more or less. To make the rings, roll the dough into balls and press your thumb through the centre. Then use your fingers to twirl and stretch the dough into a donut shape. Allow the dough to proof on a heavily floured clean kitchen cloth, to prevent sticking.
3. Proof for 2-4 hours. Then preheat the oven until 200 degrees C. For the bagels I did 4 variations: boiling, brushing the boiling liquid on the surface (much like a pretzel), no boiling and no bagel hole (just a normal bun).
4a. Bring a small pot of water to boil, adding a pinch of salt and baking soda to the water. Gently lift the dough (so that it will not lose its shape) and put it in the water. The typical recommendation calls for boiling at 1 minute on each side, but this time I did it very quickly, like almost 10 seconds. This is because I boiled for 1 minute on each side previously and ended up with super hard and overly chewy bagels.
4b. Bagel no. 2, I just brushed the boiling water on the surface of the dough.
4c. Bagels 3 and 4 I just baked them as a normal bread dough.
4d. If you are using egg wash, after boiling is the time to brush on the egg. As well as dipping in nuts and seeds to coat the bagels.
5. Bake at 200 deg C for 35 minutes. Allow the bagels to cool completely before eating or storing.
And here is the outcome. The boiled bagel is still chewy but the shape is maintained. (I used to get totally flat deflated dough from transferring the dough from the proofing tray to the boiling water).
The bagel that was brushed with the boiling water was fluffier, and had just a slight chewiness on the surface.
The other 2 bagel/ bun were just normal bread! Crusty outside and fluffy inside!
And here are some of my favourite bagel videos
Sorted Food
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k9eCmYNwwo
Frederrik Waerens
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCqjkgRiq8g
I have tried to make bagels so many times and I always end up with an overly chewy texture. So this time, I decided to try different variations. I used the same dough but treated each portion differently.
Recipe
50g sourdough starter
100ml water
a pinch of salt
150g bread flour
1 tsp honey (optional)
1 egg for egg wash (optional)
nuts, seeds for coating (optional)
1. Mix the starter, bread flour and salt in a bowl, adding water as you go along, until a dough forms. If you like a sweeter bagel you can add some honey. Tip the dough out and knead for 15 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. Leave the dough to proof for at least 4 hours at room temperature, until the dough doubles in size.
2. Knead and fold the dough gently before dividing into 4 equal balls, more or less. To make the rings, roll the dough into balls and press your thumb through the centre. Then use your fingers to twirl and stretch the dough into a donut shape. Allow the dough to proof on a heavily floured clean kitchen cloth, to prevent sticking.
3. Proof for 2-4 hours. Then preheat the oven until 200 degrees C. For the bagels I did 4 variations: boiling, brushing the boiling liquid on the surface (much like a pretzel), no boiling and no bagel hole (just a normal bun).
4a. Bring a small pot of water to boil, adding a pinch of salt and baking soda to the water. Gently lift the dough (so that it will not lose its shape) and put it in the water. The typical recommendation calls for boiling at 1 minute on each side, but this time I did it very quickly, like almost 10 seconds. This is because I boiled for 1 minute on each side previously and ended up with super hard and overly chewy bagels.
4b. Bagel no. 2, I just brushed the boiling water on the surface of the dough.
4c. Bagels 3 and 4 I just baked them as a normal bread dough.
4d. If you are using egg wash, after boiling is the time to brush on the egg. As well as dipping in nuts and seeds to coat the bagels.
5. Bake at 200 deg C for 35 minutes. Allow the bagels to cool completely before eating or storing.
And here is the outcome. The boiled bagel is still chewy but the shape is maintained. (I used to get totally flat deflated dough from transferring the dough from the proofing tray to the boiling water).
The bagel that was brushed with the boiling water was fluffier, and had just a slight chewiness on the surface.
The other 2 bagel/ bun were just normal bread! Crusty outside and fluffy inside!
And here are some of my favourite bagel videos
Sorted Food
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k9eCmYNwwo
Frederrik Waerens
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCqjkgRiq8g
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