Food Science: Why Bagels are Boiled (2024)

FAQs

Food Science: Why Bagels are Boiled? ›

Boiling breads like bagels and pretzels effectively sets the crust before it goes in the oven. The water doesn't actually penetrate very far into the bread because the starch on the exterior quickly gels and forms a barrier. Bagels are typically boiled for 30-60 seconds on each side.

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.

In order for the bagels to develop that well-browned exterior and slightly dense chewy texture, they must be boiled briefly before baking. This works because the boiling water sets the exterior crust before it hits the oven, preventing the bagels from rising very much, while further developing that browned exterior.

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.

STEP 3 - BOIL

Our bagels are brought to a simmer in honey water for a distinctive flavor. The honey provides a hint of sweetness and helps the seeds adhere to the bagel.

If you are not boiling your dough, then you should not be calling your product a bagel. The boiling process is important because this is what helps form the signature thin, delicious crust. It also affects the chewy texture inside that we all love so much.

Why are bagels first boiled or steamed? Because either method of applying heat pregelatinizes the starch on the crust; this is why bagels are so shiny after they bake. The trade-off for steaming instead of boil- ing is that when you steam bagels on a sheet pan, the base of the bagel is not pregelatinized.

Unlike the traditional boiling method, Janelle says Einstein has steam injection ovens that simulate the boiling process. “They're steamed for, I'd say, about 30 seconds,” Janelle said.

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.

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.

Does boiling bagels make them chewy? ›

The boiling also thickens the crust — Coppedge says it "is essential to produce a more 'chewy' bagel."

Over proofed dough will lose its strength too early and cause the bagels to deflate either during the second rise or while cooking. To correct this, try to find a warm, — not hot — spot to rise your dough.

Boiling bagels gives the finished bagel their signature shine. By adding sugar and baking soda into the water it helps develop more flavour and deeper colour. The boiling cooks the outer layer of the bagel and helps it maintain its shape during the baking process.

The shorter you boil your bagel, the thinner the layer of cooked dough on the outside.

The standard recipe remains pretty much the same, except egg yolks are added into the mix, which changes the bagel's texture. Typical bagels have a crispy outside and a chewy interior. But the addition of the yolks makes for an all-around softer bagel.

Overview. A chewy yeast roll bearing similarity to the bagel, the bialy has a diameter of up to 15 centimetres (6 in). Unlike a bagel, which is boiled before baking, a bialy is simply baked, and instead of a hole in the middle it has a depression. It is also usually covered with onion flakes.

Supermarket bagels are distinctly not bagel shop bagels, and comparing the two will only leave you distraught. For one, the crust on a bagel shop bagel, created by boiling before baking, is much more substantial than that of the supermarket bagel, which is often merely steamed before the baking process.

You will also need some brown sugar to add to the water for boiling the bagels. This helps give these bagels their characteristic crust and flavor. Honey or barley malt syrup may be substituted in equal amounts.

A New York style bagel is always boiled in water with barley malt and it gives the bagels their characteristic shiny crust and chew.