I've been really into baking lately and have wanted to tackle bagels for a while. It all started when I discovered that my corn allergy precluded pretty much all commercially produced baked goods, but now I'm having so much fun testing out new techniques and recipes (and eating the results) that I'm almost grateful for my adult-onset food allergies. Almost.
I've seen several bagel recipes on the internet and in books, and decided that the recipe from my Baking Illustrated cookbook (actual recipe here on someone's blog) seemed to compile the best of all of them and was relatively easy to follow. I believe, as they do, that a good bagel begins and ends with the flour. I followed their advice and ordered high-gluten flour from King Arthur Flour (where would we be without the internet!).
At $6 for a 3 pound bag the per-bagel cost is somewhere between $0.40 - $0.50 each, so this is not really a cost-saving exercise. But worth every penny for taste!
You also need to plan ahead. The bagels need to proof in the refrigerator over night, so mix up the dough the night before the morning you want to eat them. Then the baking process is two-steps... a quick dunk in the boiling water...
Here are my bagels waiting for their turn in the hot tub.
Then, 15 minutes in the oven, a few minutes to cool... and in the belly!!
The only change I needed to make for my corn allergy was to substitute semolina flour for the corn meal.
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