Homemade Bagels, à la Jo Goldenberg Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why are my homemade bagels tough? ›

If your dough is too wet, it'll create large holes in the crumb of the dough and your bagels will be more like French bread, with a fluffy interior (see top photo). When too much flour is kneaded in, bagels become dense, hard and tough, instead of crisp and chewy.

Swapping in ½ cup of whole-wheat flour for ½ cup of the bread flour will make the bagels slightly less chewy but will also give them a boost of flavor.

This Homemade Bagel recipe lets us have fresh bagels right at home and we love it! Making Homemade Bagels is cheaper than buying them. Although going to a bagel shop makes for a delicious meal, it gets expensive quick.

Unlike the traditional boiling method, Janelle says Einstein has steam injection ovens that simulate the boiling process. “They're steamed for, I'd say, about 30 seconds,” Janelle said.

Bread flour – Because of its high protein content, bread flour makes these homemade bagels delightfully chewy. This recipe also works with all-purpose flour, they're just a bit less chewy than bagels made with bread flour.

It is not recommended to store bagels in the refrigerator. Refrigerating bagels can cause them to become stale faster. Keep your bagels on the counter in a paper or zip-top bag, or freeze them for long-term storage.

Why did my bagels turn out hard or dense? Moreira: Usually if you get dense bagels, it's because they were underproofed.

Much like a specific vineyard terroir is used to make a wine, certain minerals in New York City tap water are attributed to creating the best bagels. These include low concentrations of calcium and magnesium and a high level of sediment.

First, bagels can have more calories and carbs than bread because the serving size tends to be higher. However, this does not inherently make bagels less healthy, it just means when you eat a bagel you need to pay attention to how much you're eating and what you're pairing with it.

Homemade is Better Than Store-Bought

Store-bought options are not usually the healthiest. Many are made with more sugar than necessary and unhealthy ingredients.

Why add baking soda to boiling water for bagels? ›

Baking soda makes the water more alkaline, giving the bagels a pretzel-like quality that contributes to their chewiness. Just one teaspoon helps the bagels develop a shiny, dark-brown exterior as they bake. One thing to keep in mind: Keep the water bath at a constant simmer.

One of the most important steps in making bagels. is boiling before baking. Baking the dough right away gives a bagel with a matte. finish and an open interior structure. Boiling the bagel pre gelatinizes the crust.

By 2014, the bagel brand, which now consisted of Einstein Brothers, Noah's New York Bagels, and Manhattan Bagel, was sold to JAB Holding Company for around $374 million. In 2021, Einstein Bros. merged with fellow JAB brands Panera Bread and Caribou Coffee to form Panera Brands.

If you plan to enjoy your bagels within a week, a zip-top bag can help maintain freshness. Just be sure that they cool down first, as warm bagels can sweat and lose their crisp exterior in the bag. You'll also want to ensure there's minimal air inside the bag; otherwise, the bagels might turn hard.

The microwave is a quick solution for many kitchen tasks. To help soften a hard bagel, simply wrap it in a moist paper towel and microwave it for 15 seconds. You can also set the bagel on a microwave-safe plate, then surround it with a few water drops or lightly mist it and put it in the microwave for 30 seconds.

The loss of air and super-long fermentation can also make bagels seem tough rather than chewy, so be careful when pushing the upper limits of the proof time.

A brief boil gives bagels a thin and fairly elastic crust that will still allow the bagels rise quite a bit in the oven, resulting in a softer texture. A longer boil and a thicker crust prevents the bagel from rising very much at all, giving you a very dense interior.