Homemade Bagels

[infogoon]

I've been making all of the bread for my family with a Magic Chef bread machine for quite a while. It's easy enough, and compared to buying the good bread that's not loaded with HFCS and preservatives, it saves a ton of money. I was looking for new recipes online the other day, and I found one for bagels.

Basically, use the dough setting in the bread machine to make a batch of dough, then form it into rings, boil them for a minute or so, and bake them in the oven. Amazing -- half a dozen delicious bagels, without any chemicals or junk in them, for less than a dime apiece.

[MissStache]

I've only ever tried making bagels a few times, and they always disappoint me.  I can never get the dense chewiness that I so love about bagels.  What is your dough recipe?

[daverobev]

Do you boil them in sugarey water, or just straight up water? I've been making bread for a while (no bread maker, by hand :). But I live on bagels...

[N]

sounds good! Ive been making soft pretzels at home. I boil them in a bakingsoda/water which I think is what gives them the color.

[ender]

I'm going to have to try this, never thought to make bagles myself even though I love them!

[infogoon]

Here's the recipe I used: allrecipes.com/Recipe/Bread-Machine-Bagels/Detail.aspx?evt19=1

Supposedly, it makes nine bagels; I made six larger ones instead and increased the boiling time to one minute per side.

[gooki]

Homemade bagels are awesome. Give it a try.

[martynthewolf]

Wow spooky. I'm just checking the forums in between mixing up my first ever batch of Bagel dough. I'll let you know how they turn out. Hopefully they'll be very tasty. I do love a good smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel.

[Worsted Skeins]

I use the recipe from the King Arthur website.  Definitely better than grocery store bagels but not as good as ones from a bagel shop. The one thing that I like about my homemade bagels is that I make them smaller than shop bagels which are really more like two servings.

[daizy744]

Thx infogoon for sharing that recipe. I've been eyeing cheese bagels at the grocery stores but never buy them because they look so "cheap" (ie, not as cheesy as I'd like). I will try my own with plenty of cheese, and a homemade vegetable cream cheese spread. Guess what I'll be making later today :-)

[kt]

i was disappointed by homemade bagels when i tried. i don't have a machine so they seemed a lot of faff and wasn't particularly won over by the taste. plus they were ugly looking!

[daverobev]

Well, my first batch is "ok". I can kinda see where I went wrong (sizing).. if they come out too lopsided when spinning it's better to roll back into a ball and flatten again as the really thin bit doesn't toast well!

I made a couple of monsters and a couple that are tiny, too.

So what... 10kg while flour is on sale this week for $6, 500g flour in a batch (or a loaf) = 30c, plus sugar, yeast etc. Electricity. Maybe 50-60c for roughly 800g vs how much at the supermarket? I usually get the $2/510g packs (especially when they are on sale...). Even if the flour is $10 for 10kg it's still 75c for much more... better than 1/3 the price.

But then there's the time! Well... 1 hour to make 3 batches perhaps? $6 an hour "after tax". More than I'd be earning sitting on my arse doing nothing, anyway!

[anastrophe]

I've only ever tried making bagels a few times, and they always disappoint me.  I can never get the dense chewiness that I so love about bagels.  What is your dough recipe?

Use high-gluten flour, that's where your chewy comes from. If you can't find it, buy some vital wheat gluten and add it to regular flour.

[Matt K]

I've only ever tried making bagels a few times, and they always disappoint me.  I can never get the dense chewiness that I so love about bagels.  What is your dough recipe?

Use high-gluten flour, that's where your chewy comes from. If you can't find it, buy some vital wheat gluten and add it to regular flour.

In Canada you can use All Purpose flour, but the bread will taste like wonderbread. Use Bread Flour; or "Strong" or "Hard" flour, which is bread flour, just without the name bread in it (and around here, an extra few bucks for bag).

I've never heard of vital wheat gluten, I never even though of an additive to put gluten back into the flour - learn something new everyday!

[cheeselover91]

Sweet! I made bagels one time for our county 4-H fair (I was like 16) and the judge said, "You can MAKE bagels?" *facepalm* I should start making them again.