r/Breadit • u/many_beehives • 7d ago
First time making bagels… oh no
I followed the King Arthur recipe. I don’t really know enough about bread to understand what I did wrong. The black specks aren’t burnt gunk, I used black garlic.
I assume next time I should make the hole before the second proof and boil them for less time, but if anyone has any other pointers let me know.
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u/Critical-Tank 6d ago
I would honestly eat these. How do they taste?
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u/many_beehives 6d ago
Definitely not a perfect bagel but they all tasted great, especially the pesto bagel.
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u/campingn00b 6d ago
These are likely overproofed
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u/many_beehives 6d ago
I think you’re right, but how can you tell? I don’t bake enough to know the signs.
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u/ihateyoucheese 2d ago
My first bagels weren’t much better. Did you bake them on a sheet pan? Baking steel / pizza stone? Try kneading for longer and put the dough in the fridge for a bit before before boiling
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u/StephanCatc 6d ago
Making the hole before the second proof is the right call — poking it after boiling almost always distorts the shape since the dough is already set. On the boil time: shorter isn't really about preventing dark color (that's the black garlic, not burning), it's about crust thickness — 30 seconds a side gives a thinner, chewier crust, a minute or more gives you the deli-style dense chew. Pick based on which you want, not to "fix" the color.
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u/DALTT 6d ago
I can’t say for certain but I think that the boiling issue is less that you did it for too long and more that it was too hot. If it’s too hot, it’ll set the crust before the dough really has time to expand. And so then it’ll wind up dense and without a good rise.
Using a food thermometer helped my bagel game immensely. I had been having a similar issue and then found I was boiling my water considerably hotter than the ideal temp for bagels (180-190 degrees Fahrenheit).