Making Your Own Bagels
This might be a nice weekend project. If you start today, you could have fresh, homemade bagels for breakfast tomorrow. The blog Salty, Savory, Sweet finds that malted barley flour seems to work well as a substitute for the malt syrup called for in many bagel recipes. If you've ever made your own bagels, you know that even a not-top-notch batch boiled and baked at home is better than most subpar versions you get in stores these days.
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23 Comments:
I love making bagels. I been making them for almost 2 decades now and a home kitchen is good for making a few dozen. I use bread flour for chewiness. Don't forget to bathe those little buggers before you bake them.
JerzeeTomato at 11:13AM on 03/28/09
TIhis recipe is very similar to the one I use from Peter Reinhart's "The Bread Baker's Appretice". Malted barley syrup is the secret to great bagels. I use the thick syrup which is available at brewing supply stores. It stores well in a lidded glass container kept refriderated. I also use some in my English muffins. Barley flour looks interesting, may have to give it a try. I agree with Jerzee Tomato, bread flour makes them more authentic,chewy style. King Arthur Sir Lancelot high gluten flour would be any even better choice. I find that it's easier to shape bagels by the hole punch method, but to each his own.
dmcavanagh at 11:41AM on 03/28/09
When I couldn't find either malt syrup or malted flour, I added a 1/4 cup Horlick's malted milk powder to my bagels which worked fairly well. You can find it in pretty much any store that sells British or Indian products.
CatBoy at 12:00PM on 03/28/09
BTW, just about all flours, including bread and all-purpose contain some malted barley flour. The malted flour contains the enzyme amylase, which aids in the fermentation process. The malted barley syrup adds more flavor than the malted barley flour.
dmcavanagh at 12:10PM on 03/28/09
This might be a dumb question, I don't do much baking so I have no idea. How does the sponge vs. dough work? You make the sponge first, let it rise, and then add the ingredients for the dough? That was what I got from reading the recipe, but just making sure that you actually add almost 8 cups of flour.
cycorider at 3:20PM on 03/28/09
@cycorider- the recipe calls for 4cups in the sponge and then 3 cups added to the final dough. 3/4 cup is listed to add to dough "if needed" during kneading. Sometimes you will need some of that 3/4 cup, and sometimes you may not. I just finished making a batch, and I needed just about all of the 7+3/4 cups as called for.
dmcavanagh at 4:09PM on 03/28/09
cycorider, yup, nearly 8 cups of flour in total, which is why I was saying the recipe makes pretty big bagels if you're just doing a dozen. I don't know much about the sponge process either—I was just following the instructions on The Fresh Loaf!
soopling at 4:35PM on 03/28/09
Anyone know where you can get malted barley flour? That's the secret to Bouchon's cookies, and we've been looking all over for it. We found regular barley flour, but not malted.
amanda0730 at 6:13PM on 03/28/09
That crumb just does not look right for a bagel. It is WAY too light and airy. Bagels are supposed to dense and heavy.
Harvey
fishman69 at 6:29PM on 03/28/09
1. The type of malt or malted barley flour you want to put in baked goods is the non-diastatic (killed) kind, which will add sugar and malty flavor. The kind that's added in a small quantity to almost all flour used for baking is diastatic, meaning it has enzymatic activity that breaks the flour's starch down into sugars that the yeast can metabolize. Take care with that distinction, or you will end up with bread that rises too fast or tastes too sweet.
2. fishman69 is correct. Bagels should have an even, dense, spongy crumb that won't tear in a ragged fashion like the bagel in the photo.
Luther at 6:42PM on 03/28/09
All purpose flour was used in the recipe, that's probably why the texture doesn't look right.
dmcavanagh at 7:23PM on 03/28/09
Was probably bleached all purpose.
dmcavanagh at 7:24PM on 03/28/09
I love to make Peter Reinhart's bagels. He's a great teacher and these bagels are simply the best. His focaccia is also outstanding.
pielady at 10:28PM on 03/29/09
well I printed out the recipe, but I don't know that I'll ever find the malted barley flour. That, and I don't know if I will feel like a 2 day bagel project either.
elangomatt at 3:08AM on 03/30/09
I make my own bagels often, but I make Montreal-style (I live in NYC so it is impossible to find Montreal-style bagels here).
Montreal bagels are cooked in wood-fired ovens, so I can't replicate that part, but otherwise I try to keep them as close as possible.
Peony at 9:12AM on 03/30/09
You can buy Malted barley flour from Bob's Red Mill online.
arathi at 12:31PM on 03/30/09
If anyone knows where to get high gluten flour (doesn't even have to be King Arthur) in New York, I would be so happy! The shipping from King Arthur costs as much as the flour itself, and the bagels wind up costing more to make than to buy. (And since I live within walking distance of Terrace Bagels, homemade ones only make sense if I'm saving money too.)
King Arthur Flour also sells barley malt syrup, and one jar will last for dozens of bagel batches.
AlterJ at 12:03PM on 03/31/09
@AlterJ: Try calling the Key Food on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope. It would be a bit of a walk for you, which I why I suggest calling first, but they seem to have a good and wide selection of flours. This is actually a pretty amazingly well-stocked Key Foods. At one point, they carried Caputo "00" flour, which is the standard in Neapolitan pizza doughs. And, from what I remember, I've bought high-gluten KA flour there. Just call first: 718-783-9053
Adam Kuban at 12:11PM on 03/31/09
@Adam - thanks, I'll give them a call. Key Food, who knew?
AlterJ at 12:21PM on 03/31/09
That Key Food—on Fifth Avenue—has long been surprisingly diverse in its products. Lots of imports and such. Even before Fifth Avenue up and gentrified. FYI: It's between Park Place and Sterling Place.
Adam Kuban at 12:55PM on 03/31/09
Great idea for a weekend project the weekend before Passover! :) (I'm not kidding). I hope to try this out.
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 1:13PM on 03/31/09
I tried this over the weekend, and they came out GREAT. I left most of them plain, but topped a couple with salt. Love the plain, the salt baggles are even better! I never thought I would make my own bagels!
saraturner at 11:32AM on 04/06/09
i just had some of these (after putting in some labor) and man; awesome! mad respek to the real bagelmakers out there; it is a ton of work!
avisualperson at 8:42AM on 06/15/09