What gives a good bagel its crust?
I'm practicing bagel baking, using the "mother dough" recipe from Milk Bar, by Tosi & Chang. The taste & texture are pretty good, but I want a nice, crisp, blistery crust, which has eluded me so far. My question is: what are the most important factors in crust production for bagels? Is it the poaching, the baking, or both? So far, here's what I've done:
- following an Epicurious recipe, poached the bagels in water with baking soda, salt, & honey (technically it should be barley malt, but I didn't have any)
- preheated oven to 500F and then lowered to 450F when the bagels go in (again, following a recommendation on Epicurious)
- I have tried both a baking stone and a sheet pan; the sheet pan gives marginally better results
Should the oven be hotter? Should the poaching water be differently prepared? Something else?
Best Answer
The secret to a nice chewy crust on a bagel is to dip them in lye. Lye is sodium hydroxide, and quite caustic, so gloves and glasses are recommended when using it. There are plenty of instructions online of safely using lye with bagels and pretzels.
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Quick Answer about "What gives a good bagel its crust?"
Bagels need to be boiled to get a shiny crust. Boiling gelatinizes the starches in the surface to make the bagels shiny and chewy. Adding baking soda to the water makes it alkaline, which makes the bagels shinier after they are baked.How do you make a bagel crust better?
Spa treatment: A brief boil, then an egg wash. The boiling before baking step is crucial to get that firm, crisp crust and a chewy interior. Using a spider or spatula, gently place your bagels in simmering water (not a rolling boil) for twenty seconds and remove to a lightly oiled sheet pan.What makes the perfect bagel?
A good bagel should have a thin, shiny, crackly crust spotted with the kind of microblisters that you can only get from proper boiling followed by a high-temperature bake. It's these little bubbles that add both surface area and crunch.What does baking soda do for bagels?
Baking soda makes the water more alkaline, giving the bagels a pretzel-like quality that contributes to their chewiness. Adding just one teaspoon helps the bagels develop a shiny, dark-brown exterior while they bake.What makes a bagel hard?
Boiling sets the crust, so it will remain hard and chewy, but too long a boiling time (2-3 minutes on each side from Joseph, but 1-2 minutes from Roden) will make the crust too hard, and stop the inside from expanding as it should.The Secrets of New York's Best Bagel — Handmade
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