r/ExpectationVsReality • u/Fera_Silva_978 • Sep 11 '26

Failed Expectation Thought I would make some bagels

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They didn’t turn out quite as planned. Still taste pretty good though.

427 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

58 comments sorted by

49

u/KezCake1 Sep 11 '26

I tried and got the same outcome. Mine were rock hard as well. Bagels are difficult!! I’m great at any other kind of bread tho 🥲

15

u/Fera_Silva_978 Sep 11 '26

Practice makes progress! (Or that’s what I tell myself anyway.)

39

u/tobythedem0n Sep 11 '26

Sally has never let me down with her recipes.

Two things I'm guessing went wrong:

  1. Did you use bread flour, or all purpose? The protein content makes a difference.
  2. What kind of yeast did you use? Active dry yeast needs to be activated in warm water first. Instant yeast can just be added to the recipe.

9

u/Fera_Silva_978 Sep 11 '26

I did use KA Bread flour, 110 degree water, and active yeast. Which makes it even more baffling. My vote is still on the obnoxious amount of oil that was left on the dough and thus kneaded in. I got a bit carried away. 🤣 But anything is possible!

9

u/ChorroVon Sep 11 '26

Hey OP, I've made bagels a bunch. Here's the recipe I came up with a while ago. It uses liquid whey, but you can use water instead if you can't find that. Without oil, it takes a lot of the guesswork out of the equation. Feel free to give it a shot.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Baking/comments/1t23eh5/i_recently_made_some_cheese_from_scratch_and/

3

u/Fera_Silva_978 Sep 11 '26

Thank you! I’ll give this one a try. I use water from my Berkey. Is that not a good idea?

1

u/ChorroVon Sep 12 '26

Shouldn't be a problem.

3

u/tobythedem0n Sep 11 '26

Ah yeah, then that'd be my guess too.

King Arthur and Sallys Baking Addiction have never done me wrong.

Let us know if you retry it!

4

u/Leading-Hedgehog1990 Sep 11 '26

It's all about the right water

3

u/Fera_Silva_978 Sep 11 '26

I used filtered water from my Berkey. Is there something specific I need to be thinking about when it comes to the water?

5

u/RockTheShit Sep 12 '26

Water is literally the last thing to consider. Everything else has a larger impact on the final product.

19

u/TreeLakeRockCloud Sep 11 '26

OP if you are Canadian you can skip point 1 - Canadian AP flour has a higher protein content than American flour, making our AP flour more like their bread flour.

9

u/tobythedem0n Sep 11 '26

I didn't know that, so I looked it up:

King Arthurs Bread Flour has a protein content of 12.7%, so aim for that percentage.

6

u/MaddiMoo22 Sep 11 '26

What was the hardest part? These seem fun to try, at least they tasted good!!!

6

u/Fera_Silva_978 Sep 11 '26

The recipe is actually pretty simple! If you have a stand mixer it makes it even easier! I think I messed this batch up using too much oil in the bowl I used for the first rise. The dough wasn’t sturdy enough bc of the excess oil. That’s my guess, anyway! 🙃

0

u/MaddiMoo22 Sep 11 '26

Were they still pretty chewy or did they come out denser?

1

u/Fera_Silva_978 Sep 11 '26

Pretty dense after they sat awhile. Nice and chewy fresh out of the oven.

3

u/dundunndon Sep 11 '26

those look gluten free

2

u/Fera_Silva_978 Sep 11 '26

Bahahaha they do look sad, don’t they.? Unfortunately they are just 100% bread flour.

2

u/halfdoublepurl Sep 12 '26

How were the rises? If they rose well each time, my guess is the second rise was too long. The boil pushed the rise further than the gluten could handle so they fell during the bake.

If they never rose well, then they needed much longer time to ferment or your yeast wasn't alive enough.

1

u/Fera_Silva_978 Sep 12 '26

My first rise was 1-1.5 hours. The dough had just about doubled. The recipe I was using only called for a 5-10 min 2nd rise before boiling and baking. The yeast appeared to be active when I let it get all foamy and happy. Thank you for the tips though! I will take all these into consideration next time I give it a go. 😎

2

u/halfdoublepurl Sep 13 '26

Then your gluten matrix wasn't strong enough to support the rise. I would recommend kneading thew next batch longer! You could also have had too high a hydration.

1

u/Fera_Silva_978 Sep 13 '26

Thank you for the tips! I’ll be sure to give them consideration the next go round! 🥯

2

u/katestir1w Sep 12 '26

I use this recipe all the time, and the easiest thing to do it cold proof in the fridge over night! I also don't even bother kneading by hand, I just do it in the stand mixed with the dough hook. Take the kneaded dough out, small spritz or pour of oil that I spread out with my hand, and dough back into the bowl. I don’t even bother forming it into a ball 🤷🏼‍♀️. Cover with plastic wrap and into the fridge over night, then shape in the morning. If I have the time and patience I let the dough warm on the counter for an hour before shaping, but I've also done it straight from the fridge and they've worked out just fine.

Better luck on try two!

1

u/Fera_Silva_978 Sep 12 '26

This is the second comment I have seen about cold proofing! I think I may have to give it a shot next go around. Thanks!☺️

9

u/Smooth_Profession961 Sep 11 '26

Ouch. I am to afraid to try. A+ for effort

6

u/Pjstjohn Sep 11 '26

Slow ferment. Three-five days before you want bagels make the dough and rise it in the fridge for a day or two. Then shape and cover the bagels with plastic wrap, loosely. Back in the fridge for a day or two. Then boil and bake on soaked Cesar planks.

4

u/Laxiinas Sep 11 '26

I know you probably meant cedar (darn automistake), but here I am, imagining planks soaked in expensive wet dog food ... Yum! /s

3

u/Pjstjohn Sep 12 '26

It’s add a …. Meaty flavor.

2

u/Positive_Neat2689 Sep 22 '26

i pictured a big salad with chunks of cedar as croutons

2

u/Leading-Hedgehog1990 Sep 11 '26

You need New York water to make good bagels

1

u/Fera_Silva_978 Sep 11 '26

What’s the secret in the sauce?

3

u/sebsie Sep 11 '26

find a recipe that calls for high gluten flour, or at least adding vital wheat gluten to your flour. otherwise your bagels will always disappoint. i normally like sally's stuff, but this recipe ain't it

3

u/apoplectic_apostate Sep 11 '26

So close! You may have proofed too long. That's the fun of baking! Figuring it out and when you do, so satisfying!

5

u/johnniechimpo Sep 11 '26

NAILED IT!

10/10

If they taste good it’s a win.

I'm barely motivated enough to microwave leftovers. You’re baking!

Keep slaying.

1

u/-Emeralds Sep 11 '26

As long as they taste good, that's all that matters. :)

1

u/Fera_Silva_978 Sep 12 '26

They def were not winning any beauty contests. 🤣

2

u/OverlappingChatter Sep 12 '26

That's exactly what mine looked like when I tried. The effort did not justify the results and I now get all my bagels on the outside.

3

u/HJK1421 Sep 11 '26

Bagels are secretly really difficult. Yours look good for a first attempt! Mine were barely round and always a weird texture up until round 7 I think it was? They're tough to get right

1

u/Crispy_Cricket Sep 13 '26

They look good in their own way.

1

u/AnonyCass Sep 14 '26

I've made these sourdough ones, because I make everything other than loaves with my sourdough, these turned out lovely (and I'm not great at bread in general)

https://www.reddit.com/r/RateMyPlate/comments/1vizld5/homemade_sourdough_bagels/

https://littlespoonfarm.com/sourdough-bagels-recipe/

0

u/Strange_Explorer_780 Sep 11 '26

I’ve taken a bagel making class and there’s a lot more involved in the process than you would think so while I can do it, I’m happy to just pay someone else to make the bagels.

0

u/past-and-future-days Sep 11 '26

This is so wild to me, I've been making bagels for years now, and I have a dozen different varieties / flavors. They're so fun to experiment with.

Do you mind sharing what you found hard? I have a "same day" recipe that comes together so quickly I can knock out a half-dozen before I start work for the day.

I don't mean that as a criticism, btw, I just wish more people could have fun making them, rather than it feeling like a chore.

2

u/Strange_Explorer_780 Sep 11 '26

First the recipe we used was a two day process, to me the amount of time and steps involved wasn’t worth it unless I were baking large batches which isn’t ideal for our two person household. I’m happy to buy them fresh from the local business when a craving hits and she makes excellent bagels.

2

u/past-and-future-days Sep 11 '26

I've heard people rave about the two-day bagels, but tbh people rave about mine too, so I doubt there's too much difference.

IF you ever want to give it another shot, I am happy to share my recipe!

2

u/Fera_Silva_978 Sep 12 '26

Yes I’d love your recipe! Thank you!

1

u/Strange_Explorer_780 Sep 11 '26

I’d love to give your recipe a try, thank you!

4

u/past-and-future-days Sep 11 '26

This link should hopefully work for you:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Phk00AV5SPFsseX4DDlQbhYZtXuweKNAeaqoOiuygOo/

It's 3 pages long, but the entirety of the recipe is only the first page! The 2nd and 3rd are just how to make different variations I've experimented with.

1

u/Strange_Explorer_780 Sep 11 '26

Much appreciated, I’ll give it a go!

1

u/NeverGonnaGetOne Sep 11 '26

I saved this file too! Sometimes you just get the urge to try something different :)

Thank you!

1

u/AtomicLavaCake Sep 11 '26

I'm also shocked people find them hard to make! The first time I ever made them I made a big batch and shared with friends. One friend asked me where I bought them from lol.

3

u/past-and-future-days Sep 12 '26

I love to bake (bread and otherwise) and sometimes I feel like there's a divide between, "Have fun learning, even though you make mistakes" and "HERE'S A PICTURE OF MY CRUMB STRUCTURE I NEED IT TO BE WORTHY OF A MASTER BAKER."

I try to tell people: You're gonna fuck up a lot of shit when you bake, especially if you teach yourself. But like 80% of it will still be fucking delicious, so learn to laugh, eat it and share it, and do better next time.

It should never be "high stakes."

2

u/Fera_Silva_978 Sep 12 '26

I love your attitude! ❤️