Posted: 12/3/2009 12:30:15 PM EDT
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Mrs. Feral has been working on bagels and basically has them down cold now. She wrote this up a while ago.......
_______ Feral, being a good husband, treated me to a copy of Peter Reinhart's "The Bread Baker's Apprentice." I returned the favor by learning to make bagels, thanks to Reinhart's clear instructions. (Good bagels? From my kitchen? This is a really, really good book.) What follows is a variation on his version; a more faithful rendition of this recipe can be found at here. Tools: KitchenAid stand mixer; rubber spatula; dough scraper; measuring cups; measuring spoons; bread board; plastic wrap; large bowl; oil; dish towels; stock pot; baking soda; slotted spoon (or Chinese skimmer); baking sheets; cornmeal; Silpat sheets (or parchment paper); cooling rack. *** BAGELS Yield: 16 Sponge: 1 teaspoon instant yeast 4 cups bread flour (I use all-purpose) 2 1/2 cups water 1 cup starter* (optional) *(My starter is several months old. And I can't remember how I began it, other than mixing flour and water into a slurry and placing it into a stoneware crock, stirring it down every day for a week. It's possible that I added a bit of rye flour. I can't tell you now. Here's a nice overview of creating your own starter, and a good bread book will have a more in-depth discussion. For hardcore authenticity, send away for Carl's Sourdough starter; more info is at this link, but the gist is that if you send a SSA envelope, you'll get a little bit of powdered starter from a batch that was started in 1847. What I can tell you is that unless you live in San Francisco and catch its wild yeasts, your starter will not produce that wonderful tangy taste. It will *add* to the taste of your bread. *What* it adds will depend on its age, your local air-borne yeasts and how you look after it. My starter lives in spite of me. I feed it by using some of it and adding an equal weight of flour and of water to the rest, stirring it in. I keep it in a half-gallon mason jar and every time I feed the starter, I wash the jar out too. I use it three times a week and feed it every week or so...or when I remember, or notice that I'm getting low. I make sure never to tighten the lid, in case of explosion. It should probably be in the refrigerator, but it sits out on the counter when the weather is cool. In other words, this is anecdotal information; go read up on starters and follow the instructions. Try here and here first.) 
Pour 1 cup starter into bowl of standing mixer. Add 2 and 1/2 c water, room temperature. Add 1 teaspoon yeast. Whisk together with balloon whisk attachment 30 seconds on lowest speed, or until contents of bowl are mixed. With whisk attachment still on, and mixer going at lowest speed, add flour, one half-cup at a time, to bowl. The mixture should be batter-like; if it's too stiff, add up to a half-cup additional starter, incorporating it into the mixture a little bit at a time. Optional: I like to put my sponge in a clear bowl at this point, but you can leave it in the mixer bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature until it becomes a little bubbly, about 90 minutes to 2 hours. I've found that the best place to let the sponge sit is in the microwave. 
Dough: 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast 3 3/4 cups bread flour 2 3/4 teaspoons salt 2 teaspoons malt powder OR 1 tablespoon malt syrup, honey, or brown sugar 2 teaspoons garlic powder (optional) Return the sponge to the mixer bowl and switch to the paddle attachment. Sprinkle the yeast on top of the sponge. Add the malt poweder (or malt syrup, or honey or brown sugar) and mix on lowest speed for 15-30 seconds. Add 2 and 3/4 teaspoons of salt and mix on lowest speed for 15-30 seconds. (If you want garlic bagels, now is the time to add 2 teaspoons of garlic powder.) Add 3 and 3/4 cups of bread flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating on lowest speed until flour is incorporated into the dough. The dough should come away from the sides of the bowl and should cling on the paddle. Turn off the mixer (give the poor thing a little rest) and scrape the dough off the paddle and back into the bowl. At this point, you can either let the mixer run on its lowest setting for five or six minutes, or you can spread a little flour on a cutting board and hand-knead. There are many bread book authors who have written about this better than I can, folks who understand the hows and whys of kneading. All I can say is that kneading by hand is the best way to get a feel for when the dough is "right." I grab a handful of flour and sprinkle it on my bread board, plop the dough down and press into it with the heels of my palms. I then stretch my fingers out, grab the dough furthest away from me and bring it back and under. Push with heels; gather with fingers. I spend about seven or eight minutes doing this repetitive motion, stopping to add another handful of flour to the board when the dough has absorbed the flour that was there from the last sprinkle. (Because I add starter to my dough, it's wetter, so I end up adding five or six fistfuls of flour to my board.) 
There is no substitution for knowing when dough feels "right." My dough starts soft and is easy to put the heels of my palms into; I can bring it back under my fingers without too much effort. By the time I have spent six or seven minutes at it, I notice how much strength it takes to move the dough around. A good dough will be stiff and just a little tacky. It sticks to my fingers for a second and feels like the glue on a Post-It: sticky enough to notice, but not so it clings to fingers or the board. I now have a smooth, slightly tacky and heavy ball of dough. Get out a big bowl (at least twice as big as your dough ball) and cover the inside with oil. (I use olive oil, but only because it's handy.) You want the bowl to be slippery, but there shouldn't be a pool of oil on the bottom. Place the dough ball in the bowl, top down, and rub it against the bottom and sides of the bowl until the dough is coated. Then turn the dough over in the bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put the whole thing in the refrigerator. 
Reinhart's original recipe calls for dividing the dough into 12-20 balls, and letting the dough balls rise on oiled sheets in the refrigerator. Needless to say, the Feral household doesn't have that kind of chilly real estate, so the dough sits in one giant ball overnight. The key here is to retard the rising, which gives the dough time to develop its flavor. The Next Day Finishing touches: Whatever toppings suit you I take the dough out of the refrigerator and let it warm up for a few hours before I start working with it. Then I sprinkle flour on a bread board and knead the dough for a minute or two. I use the dough scraper to divide it into 16 pieces (recipe makes 12 huge or 20 small bagels, and I've found that 16 is just about right). For each piece, I roll it into a ball, poke my thumb through the middle, and widen the hole with my fist, while stretching the dough into a ring that's even in thickness all around. This takes some practice, but gives a nicer result than the rope method (making a rope of dough and sealing the ends to each other). I get out a baking sheet, put my Silpat sheet on it and sprinkle the Silpat with a little bit of cornmeal, so the dough doesn't stick. Once I have six on a sheet, I spray them with a little bit of olive oil, cover them up with a piece of plastic wrap and let them rise for 20 to 30 minutes. 
Next comes the float test. I fill a stock pot with water and gently drop one of the bagels into it. If it floats, then the bagels are ready for boiling; if it sinks, then I dry it off (gently!) and try again in a few minutes. It's easiest to keep the tester bagel separate because I don't want the excess water on my baking sheet. Once the bagel passes the float test, I fill a stock pot with water, about 2/3rds full, and wait for it to boil. I also dissolve 1 tablespoon baking soda in water in the microwave and then add the solution to the hot water. [Today's batch sank. I started over. I threw everything back in the mixer, added some more flour, let the dough rise by the wood stove, and then re-shaped the bagels. They passed the float test and baked up just fine. If your bagels sink, there is hope! It just takes a little longer.] 
Then I set the oven rack to the middle shelf and pre-heat the oven to 475 degrees. When the water is boiling, I drop three bagels (all I have room for) TOP DOWN into the stock pot and leave them in the water for 30 seconds. Then, using the Chinese skimmer, I flip them over and let them boil for another 30 seconds. (Confession: Actually, I let them go for two minutes a side, which I think gives me a chewier bagel. I have recently been told this is wrong, wrong, wrong, and the correct time is 30 seconds per side. But I like my bagels chewy, so, well, yeah, I'm gonna boil 'em longer. But I have to give you the Cooks Illustrated advice of 30 seconds per side.) As I'm waiting, I re-coat the Silpat with cornflour. When the bagels come out of the pot, I sprinkle a topping on them. Have at it, people––poppy seeds, reconstituted garlic or onion chips, sesame seeds, salt/smoked paprika/powdered garlic––whatever your heart desires. But now is the time. The full sheet, usually six bagels, goes in the oven. I let them cook for 5 minutes and then rotate the sheet and lower the temperature to 450. Then I let the bagels cook for another five minutes (a minute or two longer, if they're not golden-brown enough). When they come out of the oven, they go on cooling racks. 
They freeze nicely in Zip-Lock baggies...if they make it to the freezer. Toast and serve with cream cheese. Once you make a successful batch, you'll never go back to those skimpy hockey pucks in the grocer's freezer, or to the overpriced bagels in the bakery. The key, as with everything, is practice, practice, practice. It helps to have tasters, too! |
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BAGELS LOOK GREAT,,best I have seen in eons...
know wny NEW YORK CITY Bagels are distinctive? the water, only reason.. But,,those wonderfull home made bagels, needs this Cream Cheese Recipe You will need the following: 2 cp Whole Milk (2 cups) 2 cp Heavy Cream (2 cups_ 1 oz Mesophilic Starter (1 oz) OR Instant Starter (1/8th of a packet) Rennet (1 drop, if using liquefied) Butter Muslin dairy supplies Pour in the cream and milk into a stainless steel or plastic bowl and add the starter (mesophillic or instant). Stir well. Add the one drop of liquid Rennet and stir for around 30 seconds and cover lid with a small sheet of plastic wrap. Keep overnight somewhere were the temperature is around 70F. The mixture should then set and will wiggle a bit. Pour the contents into a butter-muslin lined colander and drain into the sink to allow the whey to drain out. Allow it to drain until it is firm and nothing drips any longer. This often takes a few hours. When finished add salt to taste. Eat and Enjoy Feral, you best get busy, you've made farmers/cottage cheese, very similar and as simple CHEF |
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Quoted:
Cream Cheese Recipe You will need the following: 2 cp Whole Milk (2 cups) 2 cp Heavy Cream (2 cups_ 1 oz Mesophilic Starter (1 oz) OR Instant Starter (1/8th of a packet) Rennet (1 drop, if using liquefied) Butter Muslin dairy supplies Pour in the cream and milk into a stainless steel or plastic bowl and add the starter (mesophillic or instant). Stir well. Add the one drop of liquid Rennet and stir for around 30 seconds and cover lid with a small sheet of plastic wrap. Keep overnight somewhere were the temperature is around 70F. That looks good, Chef. I think we'll try that over the holidays. 
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How do you make cream cheese? Dunno. We haven't gotten that far.Got a recipe? 
er, scuse me, but remember fordguy's thread about making cheese with black hills ammunition? My God man, what has this place become?  Spread some of that cheese on a bagel and post some pics. 
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I didn't get it really.
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How do you make cream cheese? Dunno. We haven't gotten that far.Got a recipe?
er, scuse me, but remember fordguy's thread about making cheese with black hills ammunition? My God man, what has this place become? Spread some of that cheese on a bagel and post some pics. I think OWNED may well be an expression used here 
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