How To Make Traditional Jewish Bagels

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Who doesn't love a good bagel? I know I do. Not those dry quoits you find in supermarkets, but proper soft-yet-chewy bagels. I was taught to make these traditional Jewish bagels a long, long time ago, and they remain to this day, my favourite.

Who doesn't love a good bagel? I know I do. My home-made bagels are soft and slightly chewy, and very traditional. | yumsome.com

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During my late teens and early twenties, I used to go to a lot of nightclubs, and on the way home - usually in the wee small hours - I'd stop for a coffee at Bar Italia in London's Soho, where I'd often meet up with chums who'd been to other clubs.

A bit later, we'd head over to Brick Lane, to Beigel Bake, to grab a beigel* or two for breakfast, before wending our weary way back home.

(Or in some cases, straight to work. Oops.)

Our freshly-baked 4am beigels were perfect. Especially when filled with salt beef. These days I prefer my bagels to contain, among other things, carrot lox and cashew cream cheese. Yum!

*Yes, beigel! We were completely unaware of the word, bagel, back then. Beigels seem to have originated in Poland, in the Jewish community, and indeed, our word, beigel (pronounced bye-ghel), seems to be an Anglicisation of the Polish, bajgiel (pronounced, bye-ghee-el). In turn, bagel seems to be an Americanisation.

And while we're on the subject of etymology, 'lox' comes from the Yiddish word for salmon - laks. In German, it's lachs, and in Scandinavian countries, it's laks/lax. Now you know. 😉

two bagels with carrot lox and cashew cream cheese.

Learning to make traditional bagels

Fast-forward a couple of years, and our chef, Pinchas, taught me how cook beigels... ummm, bagels.

You say potato, I say potahto...

And guess what? I discovered that they were a good deal easier to make than I ever imagined. Jewish baking mystique well and truly busted, thank you, Pinchas Josef!

Gaynes Park

Incidentally, waves of nostalgia flooded over me as I was writing this post, so I searched online for images of my old house, and it seems that it's now been turned into gorgeous luxury apartments, costing upwards of a couple of million pounds!

Check out some of the kitchens in the apartments! **drool**

I also found these images from 2007 & 2008, on Derelict Places. Long, long after I'd left (and clearly before the house was renovated). Although the house looks run down and altogether a bit sad, I did grin when I scrolled down the first page, and found a pic of the very cooker that Pinchas taught me to cook bagels on. It was much cleaner in my day though!

The secret to great bagels

... as I was to discover, is in allowing the dough to cold-ferment overnight, and in not baking or boiling the bagels for too long the next day. Really, 10-12 minutes is all the baking time they need, along with a minute of boiling.

Also, contrary to what loads of people will tell you, you don't need to add any honey or molasses to the boiling water in order to get that nice shine on the top. Plain old water is perfectly fine.

I do recommend however, using a bit of vital wheat gluten to give the dough a bit more elasticity, and the finished bagels a bit more 'bite'. I also use maple syrup (or apple 'honey') instead of sugar to activate the yeast. Pinchas used to use actual honey but I prefer maple.

I don't know why but using a syrup instead of granulated sugar seems to make the yeast more frothy. Maybe it's simply because the sugar is already in liquid form, and so can feed the yeast more easily. I don't know, I'm not a chemist. Whatever the reason, it works.

Shaping

The traditional way to make bagels is to roll the dough into a sausage shape, wrap it around your hand, and join the ends. With the join next to your palm, gently roll the dough back and forth to seal.

I'll be honest here, and say that I've never got the hang of making nice, uniform bagels this way - there's always a skinny bit. Plus the hole is always too big, which is why I prefer to poke a hole in the dough, rather than faff around trying to get a perfectly rolled bagel.

Pinchas would not approve.

Notes

I have provided US measurements in ounces because using cups is notoriously imprecise. When baking, it's important to get the measurements right, so weighing dry goods is the best way to do this. For liquids, do you really want to mess around, trying to work out a fraction of a cup? 😉
I don't have room in my current fridge, so I use the log store, which is completely unheated. You can use any cool area, as long as the bagels are well-covered, and safe from critters!
Know your oven! If you know that it runs hots or cold, adjust the baking temperature accordingly. Not all ovens are the same, and age and cleanliness play a part in temperature too. If your oven has an amount of baked-on grease, for example, this will negatively affect the temperature.
I don't use a fan oven, so if you do, you'll want it to be about 20° lower.
Nutritional information is calculated on the assumption that you'll use 2 teaspoon of oil for the baking trays, and 2 tablespoon each of sesame and poppy seeds.

Anyway, the big question is, do you say bagel, or beigel?! Enjoy!

📖 Recipe

How To Make Traditional Jewish Bagels (Beigels)

Making good bagels is not something that can be rushed but trust me when I say that taking your time will produce the best ones.

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Course: Breakfast, Brunch, lunch, Snack, supper

Cuisine: Jewish

Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian

Nut-Free: Yes

Soy-Free: Yes

Gluten-Free: No

Prep Time: 55

Cook Time: 20

Resting Time: 12

Total Time: 1 15

Makes (slide to adjust): bagels

Calories: 311kcal

Author: Nico

Ingredients

1 teaspoon dried active yeast
3 teaspoon maple syrup (or honey), warmed
750 g strong bread flour
1 tablespoon vital wheat gluten
2 teaspoon salt
385 ml lukewarm water
olive oil

Optional Topping

seeds , poppy, sesame, etc.

Equipment

Large mixing bowl
Baking trays
Clean tea towels
Silicone parchment
Wax wraps

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Day 1

Mix the yeast with 1 teaspoon of the warmed maple syrup, and a tablespoon of lukewarm water. Set aside for 10 mins or so to become frothy.
In a large bowl, mix together the bread flour, vital wheat gluten, and salt. Make a well in the centre.
Once the yeast is frothy, mix in the rest of the maple syrup, and tip the whole lot into the well in the flour.
Add the rest of the water, and mix with your hand to form a stiff dough. It will be quite dry and crumbly at this stage.
Turn out the contents of the bowl onto a clean work surface, and knead until smooth. This will take a good 10-15 minutes, so be prepared for an arm workout!
Once you have a nice, smooth, elastic ball of dough, put it into a clean bowl, cover with a tea towel, and set aside in a warm place for 2-3 hours to prove. You want it to be roughly double its original size.
Once the dough has proved, prepare a couple of baking sheets by lining them with silicone parchment or mat, and then brushing over a very light coating of olive oil.
Knock back the dough to deflate it (basically, punch it!), and then divide it into equal-sized pieces.
Roll each one into a ball, flatten somewhat, then poke out the middle. Place the bagel onto a baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
Tightly cover each sheet with wax wraps (or cling film), and either place in the 'fridge overnight, or in a cold place.

Day 2

The next day, remove the bagels from their cold storage, and allow them to sit at room temperature for 30-40 minutes.
Heat your oven to 240°C (465°F/gas mark 8).
Set a large shallow pan of plain water on the hob to boil, and once boiling, pop in a few bagels (don't overcrowd the pan). Boil for 30 seconds, then flip them over for another 30 seconds.

Optional Topping

If you're using toppings, now is the time to coat your bagel. (If you're not using toppings, skip this step, and just put the bagels straight onto the tea towel.)
- Place a warm boiled bagel in a dish or on a plate, and sprinkle over the seeds.
- Then place the bagel onto a clean tea towel to remove any excess moisture from its base.
- Repeat for the rest of the batch.
Once all the bagels have been boiled, topped, and de-moistened, arrange them on the baking trays, leaving a couple of centimetres (1") between each one.
Place both trays into the oven, and bake the bagels for 6 mins. Remove from the oven, turn each one over, and bake for a further 6 mins.
Remove, and set aside on a rack to cool slightly.
Serve warm with your favourite fillings.

Nutrition Facts

How To Make Traditional Jewish Bagels (Beigels)

Amount Per Serving (1 bagel)

Calories 311 Calories from Fat 36

% Daily Value*

Fat 4g6%

Saturated Fat 1g5%

Sodium 437mg18%

Potassium 105.65mg3%

Carbohydrates 57g19%

Fiber 3g12%

Sugar 1g1%

Protein 10g20%

Vitamin A 0.8IU0%

Vitamin C 0.02mg0%

Calcium 42.1mg4%

Iron 3.7mg21%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Did you make this recipe?Do mention @yums0me and/or tag #yums0me - I'd love to see how yours turned out!

DisclaimerMeasurements in parenthesis are approximate; it is beyond the scope of yumsome to be able to provide pinpoint-accurate ingredient quantities for every type of measuring utensil. As a guideline however, I make the assumption that:

1 cup = US cup = 240 ml
1 tablespoon = US/UK = 15 ml
1 fl oz = US = 30 ml

Further information may be found here

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