Hello,

 With the recent increase in food prices everyone is suffering under, I've been making more and more of my families food in the kitchen, rather than buying it pre-fab (or whatever you call pre-made food).  Among many success at this I've "conquered"*: english muffins, crumpets, granola bars, bread, hot dog/hamburger buns, fruit roll-ups, salsa, tomato sauce, etc...  However, I seem to have one daily commestable that eludes my cooking genius**; the bagel.

I've made many attempts at these wonderful, round, single-serve, vehicles for cream cheese, but have met with limited success.  The first attempt left me with rather dry, salty, uninspired little rounds.  They were servicable, but not nearly what I think of when I picture a bagel.  The second attempt met with more success, producing "bagel sticks" (as I lacked the ambition for proper shaping) that were fluffy, nicely chewy, tasty, yet homunculus looking and with no outer crust (very homogenious softness).  I figured my failures there were due to the accidental omission of salt, and a low baking temperature.

 Undaunted I tried again, this time carefully setting out all the ingredients I would need so that the salt wouldn't fall by the wayside.  I also cooked them at a higher temperature, dropping it after 5 minutes (as I do with bread 500 -> 450).  However, they still failed to produce a nice, shiny, chewy/crunchy crust.  Rather, they looked shriveled and raisen like.  They hadn't lost any size during the baking... they just didn't seem to grow and smooth out any.  They just seemed to "freeze" in the same semi-wrinkled, post-boiling shape that they went into the oven with.

So I'm asking for help to tweak my method so that I have a chance at producing truely impressive "bagel shop" bagels.  Here is my method so far:

-Make the dough and allow to double in size (You're basic mix and proof).  During the ferment, I do one de-gas and fold.
-Seperate dough with a sharp knife and shape.  Shaped bagels are placed between two sheets of wax paper and allowed to rise for 45 minutes to an hour... until puffy.
-Bagels are placed in boiling water and allowed to boil for 2 minutes, turned, and boiled 2 minutes longer.
-They are removed from the water and placed on a baking sheet covered in corn flower.  The bagels are allowed to rest for 15 minutes, then baked.
-Last batch was baked at 500º F for 5 minutes, then lowered to 450ºF for another 15.
-Finally, they are cooled on a wire rack.

I wish I could provide a picture of these bagels, but I'm pretty sure my wife ate the last one yesterday morning (as I said, they looked funky, but tasted pretty good).  If I find a spare one sitting around somewhere... or if I have another partial success, I'll take a snapshot of it and post it here.

I'm planning on giving the sourdough bagel recipe I saw here a try, since the bagels pictured are exactly what I'm trying to accomplish... and I have some starter that's looking at me with big doe-eyes, wanting to be used in something.

Any help is greatly appreciated in this endevour.

Cheers,
Taco

*Conquered read as "Met or exceeded market quality."

**Genius read as "Base level of competence".

I recently started making bagels at home for the family on the weekends using TBB recipe.  I have been pleased with the results, but my shaping technique needs a lot of help, as you can see from the photos.   I have two young boys, and their favorite bagel is Panera's cinnamon crunch bagels.  I was curious, if anyone has tried to replicate these cinnamon bagels at home.  If so, what did you use for the cinnamon mixture to mix in the dough and sprinkle on top?  Thanks,  Dutchbaker

We dont do bagels in the UK, its an American thing, whats the point in making a bun with a hole in ! everything will drop out the center!

This was my first try at the bagel recipe from BBA. I thought they were delicious! Very chewy like a real bagel should be. I made 16 bagels from the dough instead of 12 or 24 and I thought the size was perfect as well. I made this recipe again with similar great results and now I will never have to buy crappy bready bagels again!

Check out my food blog:  The Teacher Learns to Cook - http://darronvigs24.blogspot.com

 I made these bagels using Reinhart's recipe and instructions in BBA.  I simmered the dough for 2 minutes on each side instead of 1 minute, for a chewier bagel.  I did not top them with anything as I prefer them plain. 

I made these bagels using Reinhart's recipe and instructions in BBA.  I boiled (simmered) them  for 2 minutes on each side instead of 1 minute each side to make them chewier.  I choose not to top them with anything as I prefer them plain.

Here are the bagels we had this morning...great with some cream cheese and strawberry preserves. From Peter Reinhart's BBA. I just substituted 1 cup fine grind ww flour in the recipe.

After looking at our bagel recipe sit for months on my recipe stand, I finally made bagels! I don't know why I waited so long. Because I adore bagels....

I made bagels this morning.

I forgot that my malt powder had gone bad, so I subbed in brown sugar. Definitely not as authentic, but still quite tasty for a Sunday brunch.