u/Vanessaronicatoria

I have a work buddy whose lady friend frequently flies to New York for business (we live in the Mountain West). She brought back bagels and he let me try one. I have been making home made NY style bagels for almost a year now, and I was excited to see how the bagel from NYC compared to my home grown bread.

The color, crumb, chew, boil, and shape was almost identical to my home made bagels, and that felt really affirming. However, I was struck that the bread had no flavor. The topping gave it some flavor, but there was no tang to the dough. I assume this meant that the mass produced bagel did not have adequate fermentation time, and they may have used white sugar to feed the yeast.

My tip for getting a nice tang to the dough and a complex flavor is to start a poolish starter about a day before you make your dough. My timeline is I make my poolish on Friday, make my dough Saturday and feed the yeast malted milk powder, then bake on Sunday.

If anyone else has methods for a better, more developed bread flavor, please comment and let me know.

I make a batch of about 12 to 18 bagels per week. A couple weeks ago, I had to start my sponge a day early because my schedule was really busy during the weekend. Letting the sponge starter sit for an extra day made my bagels incredibly delicious and very tangy. I highly recommend this for other hobbyists if you aren't doing it already.

Hey guys, my dad's best friend broke his elbow last month and he needs a good physical therapist. His insurance is through St. Alphonsus Medigold Medicare Advantage. Thanks!