May 5, 2023 - 6:47pm
Bagels not getting that shiny glossy crust no matter what I try.
Hey everyone. I've been making bagels for the past few weeks and the hurdle I can't seem to get over is the crust. No matter what they always come out matte and dull. I mix at 48-53% hydration. 2% dough conditioner. 3% salt, 1% instant yeast. I mix in a stand mixer for 10 minutes and let it proof for an hour. Then I shape and give it another hour before I put it in the fridge for 16-24 hours. Then straight from the fridge I boil them. I've tried 20 seconds, 30 seconds, and a minute each side and only a very minute difference between the 20 second and the minute long boil. I even added extra steam to the oven with ice cubes and misted with a spray bottle.
Share
These are at 48%. As you can see my bagels lack that smooth glossy texture
do you add anything to your boiling water bath? Both the NYTimes (https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/24/dining/bagel-recipe-homemade.html) and trailrunner here on TFL (https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/71816/yeast-water-levain-bagels-lye-bath) have suggested that adding a tiny bit of lye is key.
Rob
Examined closely, that bagel looks OK. The shiny surface comes from fully hydrolyzed surface starch. I really need to see it cut open to judge the crumb quality. I see small blisters on the surface which tells me that your dough is reasonably well developed (though you didn't say what kind of mixer or at what speed you ran it) and it seems to have absorbed enough water. It does look like you might have something in the dough that is inhibiting the surface starch, perhaps something other than a high protein white bread flour in it. You might try just a high protein bread flour, water, salt, and yeast, increase the hydration to 55-58% and don't refrigerate so long before boiling them. If you have a KitchenAid mixer and you are using the dough hook, 10 min may not be enough mixing. At 48% and speed 4 you many be just smacking it around in the bowl rather than actually mixing it. Speed 2 is way too low even though they caution you not to go any higher. At speed 3 or 4 and 55% or a little higher you should get a smooth dough. I have a Famag IM-5 and it takes me about 25 minutes at speeds ranging from 2 to 5 to get a batch of 60% dough to be fully mixed (after 6 min pre-mix@speed 2 followed by a 20 min autolyse). A little higher hydration should help improve mixing. Cutting the salt to 2% might reduce the inhibition of the yeast, and 1T of sugar in 3 qt of your boiling water might help with the browning (also a higher temperature oven might make a difference as well).
Hey thank you for the advice! I'm going to try increasing the hydration on my next batch. I'm using just salt 14% bread flour instant yeast sugar dough conditioner and regular tap water in the dough. I indeed am using a kitchenaid on speed 2 with the hook as well. I tried bumping up the temp of the oven to 450 and I accidently browned them too much and got a hard crust instead of a nice leathery crust. I will take all of your advice and report back but I think you're correct on about everything and my problem is simply the dough not being smooth enough after mixing to facilitate a glossy smooth surface.
What is in your dough conditioner? I suspect that for what you are doing you don’t need it.
Why are you putting ice in your oven ? The purpose of the oven is to provide heat and it already sucks a ton of energy turning liquid to steam. Now you need to pass two physical phases and that will really suck out energy and kill the oven kick. It's a myth that ice is a good idea to produce steam. The way to produce steam is to immediately vaporize about about an ounce (or less) of water over hot lava rocks then trap the cloud by shutting the door and any vents meanwhile keeping the temps above say 450F (depending). You probably have a dry environment despite misting and waiting for ice to melt and then turn to steam. You need steam immediately so the bread rises and should be done rising in around 5 minutes. The rest of the bake is all about setting the already risen loaves.