The Fresh Loaf

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There's more to life than bagels, you know, but not much more

hansjoakim's picture
hansjoakim

There's more to life than bagels, you know, but not much more

I have a confession to make: I've never eaten bagels before. Somehow these dense, naughty creatures have escaped me. Well, until now, that is. I'm not sure what triggered my curiosity; it's probably a toss-up between the exotically low hydration levels in the bagel dough, and the recent US presidential election. Anyways. I leafed through Hamelman's Bread, and found a bagel recipe that looked bulletproof. This is a dough with 58% hydration (I did have a hard time getting the dough together in one piece at first), that I let ferment in the fridge overnight, shaped in the morning, and then proof in the fridge while I was at work today. When I got home this afternoon, I put some malted barley syrup into a huge kettle of boiling water, and let these chewy monsters soak for about a minute (boy did they puff up...), before they were left to cool in ice water for a few more minutes. Onto a plate of sesame seeds and then onto a scorching hot baking stone.

As I said, I've never had these before, so I don't know how close I got to the genuine NY style bagel, but let me tell you that Hamelman's recipe is pure genius. To me, these were awesome. They had that famous chewy exterior, and really pleasant hints of malted barley (both in the dough itself and from the syrup in the boiling water). Sorry, no cream cheese, but they were covered with French brie, some vegetables, and a couple of Pick salami slices. A little piece of bagel heaven right there :-)

 

Hamelman's bagels

Hamelman's bagels

 

Hamelman's bagels

Hamelman's bagels

Comments

ehanner's picture
ehanner

Pretty darn nice for a guy who never had one. In fact those are great for someone who makes them all the time.

Cream cheese and Lox (cold smoked salty salmon) is my personal favorite and if you are feeling like a treat, a little caviar.

Welcome to the Bagel club.

Eric

proth5's picture
proth5

Now you just need to make a couple of bagel boards (instructions included with the formula you used) and you're 100% authentic! My variation is to use about 10% whole wheat. (Well, and make them levain raised)

Nice work!

ehanner's picture
ehanner

Proth5,
Do you use a bagel board? I have some redwood lumber left over from a project that I have been thinking about putting to good use. I have been baking on a sheet pan lined with parchment and I don't flip them. The prospect of flipping the board over sounds like it could be fraught with rookie danger. I have a small oven so a half sheet is all I can get in at once. I guess I would make the boards just long enough to close the door with them near the back of the oven. What do you think?

Eric

hansjoakim's picture
hansjoakim

Thanks Eric and proth5!

Let me tell you this isn't the last time I'll be making these... They're a real pleasure to make; the dry dough is really easy to shape, and the long retarded fermentation and proofing can be adjusted to fit most busy schedules.

Smoked salty salmon... oh boy. Thanks for the tip, Eric :-)

Oh, and bagel boards and some whole wheat will be on hand for my next batch! Thanks, proth5 :-)

Bagelomania

ehanner's picture
ehanner

Hansjoakim,
I hope you are living somewhere you can get good Lox. Thin sliced with capers is just heaven. I have been using a small blast of steam to give me a crispy outer shell on the crust which is how they used to make them in New York I believe. Once you have become familiar with the yeasted version in Hamelmans Bread, try a sourdough batch once. They are even better with a natural levain.

Eric

hansjoakim's picture
hansjoakim

Eric,

I'll definitely try a small amount of steam for my next batch. Some of the bagels I made got a crispy crust, but most of them didn't. I definitely prefer a thin, crisp exterior.

I'm unfamiliar with lox (I did find this on Wikipedia, however), but we do have several varieties of smoked and cured salmon here in Norway. The Norwegian word for "salmon" is "laks", a tiny leap in pronounciation from "lox". This weekend, I had some gravlaks with a couple of bagels, and that, I believe, isn't all that far off your description of "lox bagel heaven"! :-)

Gravlaks is a given for many during the holiday season here up north, and I'm loving it more and more myself too. Great for bagels, awesome on dense caraway ryes or on thin, crisp bread (as shown on the Wikipage).