rick.c's blog

Hello,

I have been on a bagel kick recently, I made a few batches of the BBA recipe before I got tired of topped or cinammin bagels.  So, I decided to go out on a limb and try these.

So, here is my madness in making them, measurements in Grams & I don't like to weigh less than 10 Grams so tsp measurements were used

1. 194   Bread Flour
   231   Water             150*F water was used
   32     Flax Meal
   32     Whole Wheat Flour
   6       Diastatic Malt Powder  (2 tsp)
2. 2       Yeast   (1 tsp)
3. 388    Bread Flour
   50      Orange Juice
   100    Water
   13      Salt    (1.5 tsp)
   2        Yeast  (1 tsp)
4. 6        Orange Zest,  (2.5 tsp)
   130     Sunflower Seeds, roasted unsalted
   100     Craisins

1. Combine everything in 1. mix with paddle attachment of mixer until well combined.  it should be batter like and ~ 135 - 140 *F
2. Allow to cool (this took mine 90 min) to ~95 *F
3. Add 2. mix to combine
4. Let stand for 2-3 hrs until yeast is active and bubbly
5. Add 3, mix with dough hook or paddle until combined
6. Let stand for 30 min
7. Knead with dough hook for 8 min or until dough is nicely developed
8. Add 4
9. Knead for additional 5 min or until ingredients are uniformly mixed in
10. Let rise for an hour, then place in fridge overnight
11. Remove from fridge, divide into 9 pieces ~140 Grams each, shape into ball/roll, cover
12. After 45 min, poke hole through center of ball and enlarge to get bagel shape
13. Continue to let rise until almost doubled
14. Boil in Baking Soda enhanced water for 1- 1.5 min / side
15. Bake at 375 for an additional 25-35 mins until Done

I like the way these came out.  They distinctly tase orangey with a sweetness/tartness when you get a craisin, the sunflower taste is present and there is a marked afternote of the wheat and flax.  I will make these again, though I might play with my "soaker" (step 1) and I think using dried cranberries instead of craisins might be interesting.

More pics

hmm, photos aren't showing, they are here though   

http://www.flickr.com/photos/2299884466/sets/72157626053025681/

Hello,

OK, so I have made this recipe several times and, well, I have not been wholly impressed.  The flavor is delicious, but the dough is in general difficult to work.  I don't and up with anything that resembles David's las post, http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/9839/ficelles-made-anis-bouabsa039s-baguette-formula%E2%80%9D nor a dough that resembles Mark's in his baguette shaping video, http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/9994/short-baguette-video

Not that I would consider myself in a league with Dmsnyder or MCS, I just end up with a dough that sticks to everything, is nearly impossible to form, and slashing it is kind of useless.  I have tried ranges of KA AP & bread flours with no apparent change in the loaves. 

My question is, should I just hold back on some of the water, or is there something I am doing to not develop the gluten enough?

The recipe I used this time is...

300g KA Bread flour
100g KA AP flour
300g Water
8g salt
1/4 tsp yeast

Procedure was

1. Mix to combine, rest for 20m, kept in fridge from this point on
2. "knead" I do this by using a fist to spread the dough as far up the sides of the bowl and the folding back in, probably 6-7 times
3. stretch and fold after 20m, I do this in the air-kinda like stretching a pizza, then folding it back onto itself
4. retard 20ish hours, remove from fridge and S&F again
5. let come to temp, usually ~ 2 hrs
6. pre-shape, rest 20 m, then shape
7. Let rise about an hour, bake under steam for 10m then dry for 15m

Note:  I don't use any flour for kneading or stretch and fold, or pre-shaping.  These pissed me off some so I rolled them in flour for the final shaping.

This made these 3 loaves

You can see the scores have nothing but color difference going for them, I knew they were going to be this way in such a slack dough, so I went a little overboard.  Also, a crumb shot for david, since I have asked for his input

Sliced too soon, but I was hungry.  It is interesting that the crumb was most open where I couldn't 'tuck' the dough because it was too sticky.  The left side of the front loaf in top picture is what is shown split above.  There was sporadic flour on the counter when I was shaping them and this end didn't get any.

Anyway,  Thanks in advance,  Rick