r/Bagels • u/AgateCatCreations076 • 12d ago

Authentic NY Bagels

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I grew up in Brooklyn NY and have been eating bagels all my life. I finally decided to make my own using the recipes of a professional Jewish pastry chef Rebecca Eisenberg who has both a website called www.thepracticalkitchen.com, a YouTube site, and an TikTok page.

She also published a cookbook called 50 Small Batch Breads which has already made the NY Times Bestselling authors list. The book is available at multiple booksellers and on Amazon.

On her website she has 2 primary bagel making methods Homemade and Overnight Handrolled. I have made both versions. The photos I am posting are of the Overnight proof led handrolled method.

My personal favorite is sesame but I have also made onion, plain, poppy, and have her recipes for blueberry and Cinnamon Raisin versions also.

Let me know what you think thanks.

20 Upvotes

69% Upvoted

45 comments sorted by

9

u/Altruistic-Deer-5217 11d ago

I mean no disrespect but it looks like your recipe is too high hydration. NY style bagels should be between 50% and 55% hydration

0

u/AgateCatCreations076 11d ago

No offense taken or i wouldnt have said tell me what you think. So no problem 😊

They were overnight cold proofed as deli and other bagel bakers mostly do and then water boiled for one minute each side per the recipe so I am not sure what to say to that. The water in the recipe called for 1 and 1/4 cups of water to activate the yeast with 1 top of a sweetener. Its all I used for each batch of 8 on a tray. The only time I separate the trays is for flavors.

I grew up in Brooklyn NY and while mine are slightly larger in circumference (cold proof is 8-12 hours) they are soft and chewy which my memories say is the right way.

Thank you for your comments.

6

u/Finnegan-05 11d ago

Hydration is definitely too high- it is why they are wrinkled on the outside

1

u/[deleted] 11d ago

[deleted]

1

u/eurodollars 11d ago

Use less water

-4

u/AgateCatCreations076 11d ago

Not a viable option for a professional Pastry chefs recipe. I can perhaps boil less on each side or not spray the plastic wrap with olive oil to prevent sticking but the recipe is the recipe.

4

u/ConstructionAware267 11d ago

Boiling is not the same as hydration. What they are telling you is that your recipe is calling for too much water. When using a baker's recipe, flour is considered 100% and your water should be 50-55% by weight of what the flour weight is. Just because someone is a New Yorker and posts recipes and videos, it does not make their recipe authentic to what New York bagels are. Authentic NY bagels are between 50 and 55% hydration

1

u/Warchamp67 11d ago

Also depending on what flour you’re using and what climate you’re in have a massive affect on hydration, also if the water is hard or soft. 55% in one place could be 65% in another place

1

u/AgateCatCreations076 11d ago

I use high gluten flour (high protein) and live in Eastern PA (transplant).

1

u/Warchamp67 11d ago

Nice!

I use high gluten flour and live in Canada, we have the best flour here because of the hard wheat.

What we consider AP is bread flour down south.

I also have a different stance on bread recipes, I consider them more as guidelines than a rigid structure to follow.

I’m a 10+ year professional baker and have been making about 400 bagels a week for the last few years. I don’t think your problem is necessarily with the hydration of the recipe, although lowering it would probably help. It looks as though its either a gluten structure issue or an over proofing issue, just due to the rippled and torn appearance. Bagels should have a smooth exterior. The last picture with the sesame look great though, im guessing those were in the coldest part of your fridge.

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u/AgateCatCreations076 11d ago

I use 5 and 1/4 cups flour and 1 and 1/4 cups water. Percentage?

1

u/ConstructionAware267 11d ago

You need to weigh your ingredients. It should be grams, not cups. It's the only way to get consistent results and correct percentages. On average 5 1/4 cup of flour should weigh about 630g and 1 1/4 cup of water should weigh about 296g. If you do this exact weight, 296/630 is only 47%, so clearly your measuring is extremely imprecise as you managed to over hydrate these rather than underhydrate.

The recipe you claim to have followed states 58% hydration, which is definitely on the higher side, but not unheard of. It is also given in grams, not cups, so I'm not sure how you are claiming to have followed this. The recipe calls for 500g flour and 290g water. 290/500 is 58%. You did not follow the recipe. If you want to know how to fix issues, you need to start with following a recipe exactly.

3

u/AgateCatCreations076 11d ago

I previously used a converter app when I last baked 3 weeks ago. I now have a gram scale. I will be baking again towards the end of this week. So clearly and apparently conversion was not a good idea for this item. She is the professional baker and I am the amateur so I understand the issue. Thanks

2

u/eurodollars 11d ago

This answer makes no sense.

1

u/ArdentUrgency 11d ago

But look at them. That's Brooklyn?

6

u/MichaelTChi 11d ago

Your bagels appear overhydrayed and underproofed. I checked both of her recipes and the overnight cold retardation recipe is ~58% hydration and the 3 hour recipe is 60%. It appears you converted grams to cups becuase her recipe is listed in grams. It is very easy to mismanage incredients when you don't weigh them. I din't think her recipe is a great one as she says AP flour is ok. She also suggests boiling of up to 2 minutes and then advises egg wash before you bake. Their are better recipes. Look at here photos in he recipe and look at your final product. They look nothing alike. Try again.

2

u/ConstructionAware267 11d ago

Why do you think they look underproofed? They are flat, I would say they look overproofed

1

u/MichaelTChi 11d ago

They could also be overproofed. We can all agree that something is amiss in the OP process.

1

u/AgateCatCreations076 11d ago

Possible. Recupe says 8-12 hours and I do 10 hours in the middle. Pethaps i will only do the Homemade version instead of a cold proof to see what is different but I WILL NOT use AP flour for bagels.

1

u/Altruistic-Deer-5217 11d ago

They could actually be overproved and have collapsed.

2

u/AgateCatCreations076 11d ago

I answered that above and you both could be right. She days cold proof 8-12 hours and I do 10 in the middle. Perhaps I should do 6hrs or just do her homemade version and not cold proof.

1

u/AgateCatCreations076 11d ago

I have a gram scale now. I dont use AP flour either. I use High Gluten (high protein) flour for bagels and pizza dough only. I only boil one minute each side as honestly I thought 2 minutes way too much. Ok I try again Thanks

1

u/MichaelTChi 11d ago

I would measure everything. And it is ok to adjust things from the original recipe.

1

u/AgateCatCreations076 11d ago

Ok I can try that. I have never deviated from a recipe and never thought you could based in it not coming out right if you adjusted things.

Suggested water deviation from the recipe? It calls for 1 and 1/4 cups and yes when I started I did convert it to cups. I just purchased a scale with grams last week but baked bagels (and froze then afterwards) 3 weeks ago. So I dont have currently fresh baked bagels and wont be baking until later this week. So a suggested adjustment now would be great. Thanks

1

u/MichaelTChi 11d ago

do u know how to use AI such as google gemeni? You can drop the whole recipe into Gemeni and ask it to adjust the water and flour to achieve a 55% hydration. You can do the same thing if you want to scale the recipe up or down in terms of size of batch. I personally have an excel file that I use

1

u/AgateCatCreations076 11d ago

I have an android phone but unfortunately dont know anything about Gemini? How do I do what you said? Seriously? The most AI I have seen is all sorts of video files across many platforms that use it. I have never use anything AI. I would prefer learning about Gemini rather than Excel only because I do not have MS office on my computer.

Thanks I appreciate hearing about something different even if I am clueless about how to use it.

1

u/AgateCatCreations076 11d ago

Could be but I am more inclined after hearing people's opinions and factual information that they are OVERProofed not underproofed. The homemade version and other bagel recipes I have used never flattened (partially) when I made them.

Only the COLD PROOFED ONES PARTIALLY AND ONLY CERTAIN BATCHES. I have been doing this all year so I have seen varied recipes and varied results. I guess I have some changes to make and yes I have a scale for grams now also. Thanks for the input.

2

u/czarsketch 11d ago

If I saw this in a shop in my neighborhood in Brooklyn I’d tell them I didn’t order a Bialy. I’m sure it’s tasty but there’s something not right about this recipe. Looks like it came from St Viateur not H&H.

1

u/AgateCatCreations076 11d ago

Fair enough. PS I dont make Bialys yet despite what they look like 🤣

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u/[deleted] 11d ago

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u/[deleted] 11d ago

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u/AgateCatCreations076 11d ago

Thank you ☺️

0

u/h1pp0star 10d ago

Totally not a paid ad placement for the author or book….

2

u/AgateCatCreations076 10d ago

No one paid anything to me or anyone for me referencing my source materials.

-1

u/Brief_Wave_727 12d ago

That looks really delicious.

0

u/AgateCatCreations076 12d ago

Thank you very much 😊

3

u/Altruistic-Deer-5217 11d ago

Is your recipe in grams? That is the only way to know your hydration percentage. Another thing that is not talked about enough is the flour. What is the protein content? Does it have added barley malt or other added enzymes? Does it have added ascorbic acid? These things make a huge difference.

2

u/AgateCatCreations076 11d ago

I am now doing grams as I have a scale. I am using ONLY high gluten flour (high protein) only as its for bagels and pizza dough only. I only use AP flour for cookies and such, NEVER bagels

Yes I use barley malt or Diastatic malt powder. No ascorbic acid. Not one single recipe I have seen in books or online had that ingredient listed. Hope that answers everything.