February 21, 2011 - 6:46am
Burnt Bagels
Dont kno why my bagels are coming out burnt on bottom. I'm baking on top of 2 layers of tiles heating them at 500 for about 45 min before baking . Baking at 500 for 5 minutes then lowering to 450 for about another 15 to 20 minutes. I would like to cook them a little browner but as it is the bottoms are burning? Any sugesstions
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I'm no bagel expert - in fact I'm not even qualified even as a bagel novice - but all the recipes I have for bagels call for much lower temps than 550F. Most call for 425F (including this one from King Arthur flours).
I have at least one that goes up to 475, but the vast majority of them call for a 425 oven. Try lowering the temp on your oven - when they burn on the bottom that way in such a short time it's a pretty good indication the temp may be too high.
Try preheating to only about 400 - 450. Then about 2 - 5 minutes before you load the bagels into the oven, increase the temp to 500, if that is what the recipe calls for. This way, the air around the bagels will be plenty hot to brown the tops, but the tiles will still be a little less intensely hot on the bottoms of the bagels.
You may have to play with how hot you need the tiles to get(without scorching the bread). If you lower it too much, the bottoms may be paler than desired, but eventually you will find the sweet spot. Guessing it will be about 425 for the initial preheat.
I baked thousands of bagels for Farmer's Market, I can tell you that most recipes call for something more like 425 degrees for around 20-25 minutes. Most bread bakes 350-425 degrees. The only thing I can think that bakes over 500 is pizza and maybe flatbread.