Bread-Bakers v105.n003.3

Carolyn wrote:
>I tried making bagels from the Bread Baker's Apprentice today.  The flavor 
>was wonderful and the crust was nice and chewy.  But they were soggy in 
>spots. I'm sure this is a problem from the technique (my lack of 
>experience), not from the recipe.

Carolyn, I'm not really the person you want because this has never happened 
to me, but I have a few notes on bagel baking that might lead to useful 
thoughts.

Bagel dough, properly made, is the stiffest dough most of us handle, and 
stiff doughs have to be kneaded for a longish time by hand or there's an 
unevennness that leads to dry spots.  Did you use a stand mixer?  If so, I 
find it's good to split a batch of dough in half and kneads each half for 
7-8 minutes on its own - prevents mixer burnout and gives a much smoother 
dough.  Then shaping is a challenge.  The tip that really worked for me is 
to spray the work surface with a thin film of water before starting to roll 
the bagels.  I also find it useful to follow Nancy Silverton and divide the 
dough into pieces, then let it rest before shaping.  Finally, I find an 
overnight retardation in the fridge is key.

Diane Purkiss