How to Shape Bagels (2024)

FAQs

Do you let bagels rise after shaping? ›

The slow rise gives the bagels wonderful flavor! In the morning, remove the dough from the refrigerator and let the dough rise for 45 minutes at room temperature. Continue with step 5. I don't recommend shaping the bagels the night before as they may puff up too much overnight.

To encourage a round shape, pull the edges of each piece of dough towards the center and then pinch them shut. They should look like little purses or dumplings. You can let the "little dumplings" rest with the seam side up until they're ready to be rounded into smooth balls.

5) When it comes to boiling, the gentler the better

To get her bagels into the pot to boil, Molly uses her hands to lay them down gently (being careful not to touch the boiling water!), which she says helps prevent them from deflating.

Over proofed dough will lose its strength too early and cause the bagels to deflate either during the second rise or while cooking.

What you're trying to do, by boiling or steaming bagels before baking, is to kill the yeast, so the bagels won't rise in the oven and become puffy, rather than staying rather dense and chewy. You're also adding a very thin coating of sugar—malt, in this case—which gives bagels their distinctive shiny crust. Eureka!

Despite getting some nice blistering, overworked doughs don't retain gas well and resist expansion, leading to a dense ring with a tight crumb.

A New York–style bagel is always boiled in water that has had barley malt added, which gives a bagel its signature taste, texture, and leathery skin.

Hand working the dough means a stronger gluten structure in the “crumb” or inner part of the bagel. This means shiny, elongated holes in the bread-y part, not the cakey, uniform little holes that you're greeted with upon slicing open a machine bagel. A taut, chewy, light interior is the result of a more open crumb.

Since bagels are meant to be chewy and denser than other breads, punching down the dough helps to deflate it and remove air bubbles so you can easily divide and form the dough into bagel shapes, using your preferred method. Punch down dough; divide into 12 (about 4 oz.) pieces.

a regular bagel is a strange step in the cooking process. Traditional New York style bagels are submerged in boiling water for a couple of minutes before they're baked. Sometimes called "water bagels," boiling the dough sets the outside to give them a crispy exterior and chewy texture.

Is it better to boil or not boil bagels? ›

A brief boil gives bagels a thin and fairly elastic crust that will still allow the bagels rise quite a bit in the oven, resulting in a softer texture.

Baking soda makes the water more alkaline, giving the bagels a pretzel-like quality that contributes to their chewiness. Just one teaspoon helps the bagels develop a shiny, dark-brown exterior as they bake. One thing to keep in mind: Keep the water bath at a constant simmer.

Add honey and baking soda to boiling water in a large pot. This will help give the bagels a nice sheen and golden brown color when out of the oven. Add a few bagels at a time to the pot, making sure they're not crowded. They should float immediately when added to the water.

Opinions on what make for an “ideal” bagel vary of course, but to my mind the best ones have a plump, rounded exterior and a fine crumb structure, with a balanced chewy-yet-tender texture.

Bakers add toppings to boiled dough rings. These toppings can vary, but some popular options include sesame seeds, poppy seeds, salt, and onion flakes. Then they put the rings in the oven and turn them over halfway through baking. This helps the bagels cook evenly on both sides.

The Method: Place the entire intact bagel into the toaster oven, or a regular oven preheated to 375°F, for four to five minutes.