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Bagel Boggler

584 views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  chrislehrer 
#1 ·
The last time I made bagels at home, they were perfectly delicious, particularly because I add barley malt syrup to the dough for sweetening. The problem was, as I boiled them, they rose and browned, and looked terrific. As soon as I took them out and laid them on a baking sheet to bake them, they shrank horribly, and did not rise in the oven. They were the hardest, wettest bagels I ever had. They reminded me of what we used to call water bagels. What happened? I have never seen a recipe acknowledge or address this. How do you keep them from shrinking when they come out of the water?
 
#2 ·
Hmm. I know that when you take bagels out of the water, they do always shrink and wrinkle, but then they always puff back up in the oven. So I'm guessing that it's the baking process that went awry, though certainly I'm just guessing.

Are you baking in a dry oven, or adding moisture somehow? That helps give you lots of oven-spring (basically it prevents a crust forming until the dough has had time to puff up).

How long did you wait after removing the boiled bagels from the water? Roughly speaking, what sort of temperature was it in the kitchen when they sat out of the water (cold, hot, normal)? Was it drafty, windy, a strong fan running, anything like that? (Here I'm wondering if something might have prompted a crust to form between boiling and baking, which would again cause them not to puff.)

It sounds as though you've used this recipe before, is that right? How many times? Any comments on previous attempts and the results thereof?
 
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