Bagels

​Come everyone, walk with us. We're in the center of New York, lining up at a deli at lunch time. There are at least twenty people all squashed together, all here for one thing and one thing only. Yes, that's right, bagels. Bagels line every wall; the options are many and the scent of freshly baked bagels fills the air. And why, you might ask, are so many people lined up when there's a good pizza place across the street? Well, let us tell you. Bagels... are awesome. They're just...awesome!
 
Come, let's go on another journey, we're in the heart of London, a red bus goes past and you see a group of people delightfully sipping on some tea and eating some scones on a fairly famous street called Brick Lane. We walk down the road and see Beigal Bake, the number one bagel shop in London. The scent of their roasted salt beef bagels, covered in hot mustard, with a pickle fills the air. We line up in the long line that never quits because, you see, this shop is open 24 hours a day! Why do we line up? Because, well, bagels... are awesome! They're just... awesome!
 
The recipe we liked the best was found at Myjewishlearning.com, we have changed a few things in the process, but this recipe, we believe, makes some great bagels! Hope you enjoy!

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​Bagels
 
Servings                          
11
 
Prep Time:       04:00    
Cook Time:      00:30
 
Main Ingredients 

1 Cup warm water
1 1/2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons of sugar
2 Teaspoons of salt
7 grams (one packet) of active yeast
3 1/2 Cups of bread flour

Preparation

1. First, as per usual, you need to activate your yeast. Put the yeast in a small bowl, add the cup of warm water, cover in glad wrap and leave for 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt and sugar. We used a kitchenaid to mix all this together for 1 minute.
3. In a separate bowl, beat one of the eggs for 1 minute.
4. Create a well in the dry mixture (flour, salt and sugar) and add the egg, yeast mixture and oil. You want to knead all this together until slightly sticky and elastic. If it's not elastic and very dry, add a little bit more water, but be careful, don't add too much, a teaspoon at a time!
5. Transfer dough to a bowl that has been greased with a little bit more vegetable oil and ensure the dough is covered in oil. Cover the container with a damp cloth and let it rise until it's doubled in size. This will take 1 1/2 to 3 hours based on the temperature of your kitchen! When we made this, it was quite warm (24 degrees Celsius) and it took 2 hours.
6. Remove the dough from the bowl, flatten it and cut it into 11 equal size pieces.
7. Roll these pieces into ropes of around 18cm long and 1 1/2 cm thick. You then want to join the two ends to create a ring. This will form the base of your bagel! Repeat this for all 11 ropes. Once completed, put them on a tray with baking paper and let them rise for a further 1 hour.
8. Now comes the fun bit! We're going to boil the bagels! Boiling the bagels, helps them retain their shape when you bake and affects the texture of the bagel. A longer boil, makes them more chewy! Bring a pot of water to boil, then lower the heat to medium.
9. Drop four bagels in at the same time and let them boil for 1 minute, then (we used chopsticks) flip them over to boil for another 1 minute.
10. Remove the bagels and put them on a cloth to dry and repeat the boiling process with the remaining bagels.
11. Transfer all of the bagels to a baking pan with baking paper, mix a dash of water with the remaining egg and paint this mixture onto the top of the bagels and put them in the oven at 190 degrees celcius (non-fan forced) and bake for 15-20 minutes. Watch closely as you don't want them to burn. Congratulations, you've just made your first batch of bagels! Yeah!!!

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