The Lazy Loafer has retired!
Hi all. Sorry it's been so long since I was active on the site. After our big trip to Australia and New Zealand last autumn, then Christmas, we decided to sell our house. It took a while to get it ready to sell, and part of that 'getting ready' was storing all my bread-baking equipment away out of sight, and not baking for customers anymore. The house is still on the market so I'm just baking for the family now. The bagels shown here are a modified version of Peter Reinhart's bagels from "artisan bread every day", with the addition of some whole wheat flour and sunflower & sesame seeds. I find it's easier to control the ferment and proof if I refrigerate the bulk ferment, then shape them the next morning. They proof fairly quickly so make sure you've got the water simmering and the oven pre-heated in time!
Anyway, good wishes to everyone here and I do have a peek now and then to see what everyone is doing!
Wendy
Comments
Wendy, your bagels looks great! I've been making the water bagels from a KA recipe, and they are ok, but I'd prefer a recipe that includes the overnight proof in the fridge. What has always kept me from doing these types of bagels is that I just don't have the fridge room to hold a couple of baking sheets full of shaped bagels. I'm intrigued by your comment that you just do the overnight in bulk and then shape in the morning, boil and bake.
Can you provide a few more detail on the process? I can grab either Reinhart or Hammelman's bagel recipe, so it's the process you used I'm most interested in. I'm certain that you are very busy with your move and house sale, so if you can't get to it, I'll just give it a whirl and experiment!
Thanks!
Rich
Hey Rich! There's no real secret to it. These are yeasted bagels (not sourdough), so I just mix up the dough, give it a good knead (fairly stiff dough, so easier to knead than S&F), form it into a smooth ball in an oiled bowl and let it sit at room temperature for a couple of hours before putting the covered bowl in the fridge overnight. Sometime the next morning I scale, pre-shape and shape the bagels, then boil and bake them. You can probably adjust the time and/or the amount of yeast in the dough to suit your room temperature if needed. I imagine you could do a cold bulk ferment with any dough recipe though, especially if you lower the amount of yeast a little bit and let the bulk ferment get started at room temperature for a couple of hours. It certainly improves both the flavour and the digestibility of the finished product. I find that they will often over-proof if I shape them then refrigerate them, so I prefer to control it this way.
Thanks, Wendy. I'm sure I could have figured this one out, but good to get your insights! :) I'm going to whip up a batch of these later today, and will also get a batch of cream cheese made, too (really nothing quite like fresh cream cheese on a homemade bagel!)
Thanks!
Rich
Best wishes to you!
Yippee
Please keep in touch. You have helped me to become a better baker.
I hope your home sells quickly and trouble free. And that both you and the buyer are thrilled with the deal.
God’s Best.
Danny
and I hope that we still see you here! I am sure even if you don't bake for customers anymore you cannot avoid baking all together... good luck on your next step....Kat
I do hope to be a more regular visitor / contributor / baker again. It's good to be back; I've got some catching up to do!
Wendy
Are you moving to Australia? It's really nice here :).
Haha, no, not moving to Australia (though I agree that it's very nice there)! It's also very nice here on Vancouver Island off Canada's West Coast, so we'll be staying here. Whereabouts in Australia are you? We visited a lot of the southeast bit while we were there and enjoyed it very much.
We live in Rosebud, Victoria in the SE of Australia. We tour extensively throughout Australia in our caravan about 4 months of each year taking a different direction each year.
Cheers.
We did visit with friends for a few days in Melbourne though, so not too far away.
but I know you’ll keep baking! It’s an addictive hobby. ?
in retirement is way better than the best day of working! After that it just gets better! Enjoy your retirement doing, Loving what you did is not nearly as good as doing what you love.
Happy baking LL
for the last couple of weeks. I haven't been able to spend much time on the site myself lately, but I finally decided to come looking, as I missed this when you posted it. Thanks for checking in. Your customers have to really be missing your Bake Shop, but I know it must be nice to have some more freedom. My other half loved your Ale and Yeast Poolish bread so much when we were there, that I finally broke down and bought Bertinet's book "Crust". I'm very glad that I did, as I have been enjoying it a lot. You must have a secret ingredient or technique, (or maybe the water in BC!), because your loaf is still better! Anyway, best wishes to you, and congrats on your retirement! marybeth
Hi MaryBeth, so lovely to hear from you! Hope things are going well for you too. The secret ingredient is Brian's homemade beer, I guess, as the rest of the ingredients are pretty standard. Oh, and Roger's Silver Star bread flour might make a difference. Anyway, next time you're up this way I'll be happy to bake you a loaf! :D
Wendy