Beverly said:
> It is my understanding that in order to make REAL bagels, malt is needed.
> I'm still looking for REAL bagels, instead of the "rolls with a hole" that
> are so easily available--both fresh and frozen.
Beverly, you'll probably get an avalanche of favorite bagel recipes. I
keep evolving mine, and my current favorite is Rinehart's, from the Bread
Baker's Apprentice. Malt is important for the malty taste (non-diastatic
malt) or crust appearance and texture (diastatic malt), but I agree with
Rinehart that the real keys are overnight fermentation to bring out the
flavor and a minimally hydrated dough to stand up to the boiling. With
Rinehart's recipe, I must finish it by hand, as the dough is too stiff for
the K5A. If the dough is really stiff, I let my wife finish it to build up
her biceps, while I watch television.
I've not yet tried a high-gluten flour, like King Arthur's 14% protein
(available only by mail order), but that should make them even better. At
a minimum, use bread flour, not all-purpose flour.
My gold standard is Murray's Bagels in NYC, and these are pretty close, in
my opinion.
Rick Krall