The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Excellent Bagels blog from KAF

Anonymous baker's picture
Anonymous baker (not verified)

Excellent Bagels blog from KAF

Hi,
 Quick! Head over to the King Arthur Flour blog...
They just posted an excellent Bagels article with some very helpful photos.
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2009/01/27/bagels-for-babies/

  All the best,
    Mark Wisecarver

Note: Remember you DO NOT need the Malt, Honey works great and gives Bagels a very nice golden color.
I always use Sourwood Honey, if you can find it try some I promise you'll love it. ;-)

hansjoakim's picture
hansjoakim

Poking = Cheating, no? NY style ;-)

Nice photos! But why do they bake 20 mins. before adding seeds?

Also interesting observation re: steaming baked products that are made with high-protein flour, and in complete agreement with some research results from the "Steaming madness" blog... It appears that heavy steaming can be pretty taxing on fully proofed loaves/bagels.

brakeforbread's picture
brakeforbread

And if you're a purist, neither does poking. That said, I'm all for people finding their own route to making good bread. And steamed is better than nothing. I can't stand when you get a round puffy roll and it's called a bagel.

Wisecarver's picture
Wisecarver (not verified)

...I bake a lot of boiled Bagels and use different methods then get thankful taste testers each time.
Shaping the Bagels with the palm-roll is my typical method but I have tested people with the poke method and if anyone noticed they never mentioned it.

As for seeds, yes, I prefer to add the seeds immediately after they come out of the water, before they get baked.
I can see however where some seeds will taste better if added later, rather than spending anytime in a high heat.
All a matter of taste I guess, and that is the main rule...Taste. ;-)

Yumarama's picture
Yumarama

I've found onion topping is way too easy to burn but I'd think putting it on further down the baking process would allow it to just toast/caramelize instead of charring.

I'll have to give that a try.

newgirlbaker's picture
newgirlbaker

and they were fantastic!  Great flavor and texture.  I used the recipe in BBA.  Think I will make cin and sug next.