The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Mass baking bagels

Bagelbaker's picture
Bagelbaker

Mass baking bagels

Hi crew. Hoping for some help here as it's been a head scratch-er. 

I have a small bagel market stall that's been going great and now I'm in process of opening a shop up but I want to mature my process to allow for more bagels. 

My current process is good for a smaller number. I make my dough, proof it overnight in large plastic containers. I then bring it to room temp, make it into dough balls, let it proof slightly, then shape, let it have another short rise then boil and bake. They turn really great, our customers love them. 

Now I have a bakery fridge, I want to do it like how I see it on YouTube with the old school New York bakeries. Where I make the dough, shape into bagels by doing the roll over technique then let it proof for 1-2 days in the fridge before boiling and baking. It means on busy mornings we would have much less work to do. 

My issue, I cant get the bagels to rise right. They come out of fridge a bit flat with a crust. What do I need to change? 

For reference i use instant yeast, 15g per 1kg of strong white flour. 

Ive tried letting it bulk proof then shaping then putting in fridge. No luck. 

Ive mixed it, then shaped straight away then rise for 30 min, 60mins and 90mins before placing in fridge. They just never seem to rise enough. 

idaveindy's picture
idaveindy

here's a standardized test to see if your dry yeast is up to spec: 

https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/65009/tip-commercial-yeast-testing-expiration-storage

wally's picture
wally

15 gr of IDY per 1000 gr of dough is 1.5% which would be right if you were using fresh yeast. But IDY should be 1/3 the percentage of fresh, so closer to .5%. If you’ve tested your yeast and it’s good, I would suggest giving shaped bagels 30 min floor time and then refrigerating - covered. If you’re getting a crust I suspect you’re leaving them uncovered on racks in the walk-in.

Bagelbaker's picture
Bagelbaker

Thanks Wally 

 

I think you are right. Too much yeast, will work with less and see how it goes. I cover them with plastic during the first proof, but then in the fridge its large bakery fridge with the wooden boards about 2-3 inches spaced so no way to cover them. I had a small test batch with less yeast last week and it didnt fully rise but the bagels didnt get a crust. So i am getting closer.