November 2, 2019 - 5:39am
Must bagels be round?
Crazy question, I know. But recently I've been using the heretical "St. Louis cut" on my bagels, and I actually like it a lot.
But of course the shapes of the cuts differ a lot because of the shape. I'm about to bake a new batch of my rye sourdough (using a chocolate starter that gives them great depth of flavor) and I'm wondering if it's possible to make them square or rectangular - with a hole in the middle. I would start with a tight roll for surface tension, then flatten and shape.
Any experienced bagel makers here want to hazard a guess the likely result? I suppose I could make 7 regular and one square as a test, bjt if it's likely to work I'd love to do all 8 that way.
Thanks in advance for any advice!
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I think the shape doesn't matter that much as long as they are the same size/weight to ensure consistent results.
Pretzels (which have a very similar process) also come in all shapes and sizes, so go nuts!
behind the names of various breads. Get ready to call your unround bagels something else. Squargels? Bagelblocks? How about Blagels? Or Hard Pillows? Square bolts? Squolts?
I'm sure sometime in history they have their own name but the round bagel won the popularity vote. Maybe because square shapes swell round during the process or round ones hold their shape better.
Thanks for the info and laughs. The dough is in the fridge now, and I'll likely bake Monday morning. It would be tomorrow morning... but... Popeyes Chicken sandwich arrives back tomorrow (Zing! Chicka-fil-a, closed Sundays), which I've never tried. So that's on my menu after the gym. :)
Unless someone else chimes in with a warning against, I'll try a couple of Blagels and report back. Either way, if they hold onion/chive cream cheese and nova - I'll eat them.
The corners may darken and over-cook.
Woman plans; the Gods laugh. Or, as my son is fond of saying: never a dull moment in this house.
So. Made the dough yesterday in the processor, subbing 50g beer (leftover from bread baking) for 50g water. Left it 1 hour on counter, then into the fridge. Decided to bake today..
Put stone in oven, set to 475. Soaked cedar planks in the sink; got water bath ready. Thirty minutes later, did pre-shape, 15 minutes. The dough had really risen overnight! I think it was the beer.
Had just shaped the first one (decided to do 6 round, 2 rectangle) - and - POOF! Electricity in the entire house GONE!
Called neighbors - they were fine. Turns out the new oven burner replacement (maybe 6 mths old) blew - taking the main house circuit with it.
Reset that, and decided what the heck - the dough had been sitting out a good hour by now - but I turned on the broiler, which still works. Shaped and boiled the bagels, 1 minute a side. The rectangles (Bagelangles?), with a slit rather than a hole in the middle plumped up no more than the round ones, and looked fine.
Had no idea what the oven temp was, but figured the stone had retained heat. Did 6 minutes on the first side, flipped them off the planks and directly onto the stone, then 11 minutes on the other. Rose and browned beautifully,, smell delicious, and the bagelangle corners did not brown more than the sides The proof will be in the eating, tnough. I
After this morning, I *deserve* a great bagel and lox, no workout today be damned.:)
I'm sure there's a moral to this story, but at the moment I can't think of a one.