Journal
method
Why Do Bagel Bottoms Burn Before the Tops Brown?
The minute-by-minute answer to burnt bagel bottoms: what we timed on steel, stone, and sheet pan, the liner myth I fell for, and the spatula-check rescue.
method
What Should You Bake Bagels On? Stone, Steel, Sheet Pan, or Board
Twelve bagels, three surfaces, calipers on all of them. What's under a bagel barely matters, and the boards moved every number that does.
method
The Bagel Float Test Failed My Best Bagels
Everyone says float means ready. Then my best batch sank cold and won the bake. What the test measures, why chasing a pass ruins dough, and what to check ins...
method
Why Are My Bagels Gummy in the Middle?
You gave them five more minutes and the middle came out just as gummy. The cause usually isn't the oven. The measured proof, and the fix for each cause.
method
Why Are My Sourdough Bagels Dense, Flat, or Gummy?
One batch of dough, split three ways: underproofed, overproofed, and left alone. Calipers at every checkpoint, cross-sections at the end, and the numbers tha...
event-ideas
Break-Fast Bagel Spread: Quantities and a Make-Ahead Plan
Twenty-five hours, no cooking, a room full of people who haven't eaten since yesterday. The break-fast spread, the per-person math, and the freeze-and-revive...
method
The Best Way to Shape Bagels: I Measured Three Methods
Three shaping methods, one batch of dough, and a set of workshop calipers. What the poke costs you, why the rope holds its own, and the laminated log we had ...
event-ideas
Christmas Morning Bagel Bar: A Make-Ahead Plan
Fresh bagels on Christmas morning without missing anything: real bagel dough waits in the fridge overnight anyway. My Christmas Eve schedule, last year's ora...
method
Why Did My Bagels Wrinkle After Boiling? 3 Causes, In Order
You held the boil and the skins wrinkled anyway. The three causes in the order to check them, from a baker who has wrinkled more batches than he'd like, plus...
gift-ideas
Want to Send Bagels as a Gift? Read This First
A bagel peaks about two hours out of the oven. What that means for bagel delivery services, and the gift that gets around the problem entirely.
method
Why Gluten-Free Bagels Fail: Gummy, Dense, or Falling Apart
Bricks, boil breakups, crumbly slices, cracked tops: I baked them all before our kit recipe worked. What causes each gluten-free failure, and what stands in ...
method
How to Get a Shiny, Blistered Bagel Crust
Twenty seconds per side in malt water, then steam for the first seven minutes. Where bagel shine actually comes from, and why the egg wash stays in the fridge.
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Technique notes, troubleshooting guides, and the occasional behind-the-scenes from the workshop. No spam.