Frank Bennett 🇯🇵Feb 3

I seem to be getting into a homemade carbs groove here. After deciding it's easy enough to just make pasta from scratch …

There's one proper bagel shop in Nagoya. It's the real deal, but quite a hike to downtown. The other day, I decided to give it the old college try again, and in contrast to past attempts, they were passable, if a bit rough. Then a friend pointed me at a video on bagel rolling, and that worked better. So today it's the fourth batch in a row, with recipe adjustments …
#cooking

Show threadJet-BFeb 3

@fgbjr

I made bagels for a while, back when bread machines were the rage. It wasn't that hard, just extra steps with the kettling.

Is your definition of bagel more narrow than mine? What makes a bagel good, for you?

Show threadFrank Bennett 🇯🇵Feb 3
@jet There's a kneading machine in the house, which lightens the burden. A lot of bakeries here put out "bagels" that are just fluffy bread rolls with a hole in the center. The bagels I know from time in LA are boiled before baking, and have a chewy texture. Here's the recipe I'm working from this time around. https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/homemade-bagels/
Show threadJet-BFeb 3

@fgbjr

Bagels are supposed to be solid. Less rising. Most of the rising happens in the kettle and oven.

(Let me know how the recipe goes. Personally, I wouldn't wait 90 minutes to let the dough rise, more like 30. It's the rising that makes bread light. And personally, I would add a bit of oil so the bread inside the bagel is a tad softer. But it depends on how you define a good bagel.)

Kettling is essential. The chewy crust comes from the kettling. It takes mere minutes to kettle a whole batch of bagels.

Show threadFrank Bennett 🇯🇵Feb 3
@jet So far so good. Yes, rising time is shorter, and I've halved the amount of yeast.
Show threadJet-BFeb 3

@fgbjr

Let me know if half the yeast works.

I'd have thought every yeast cell is needed to produce some CO² since the rising time is almost nil before the yeast cells are all killed by the heat of a hot-hot oven.

Show threadFrank Bennett 🇯🇵Feb 3
@jet Seems to have worked okay!
Show threadJet-BFeb 3

@fgbjr

Look at that beautiful work!

How are they?

Show threadFrank Bennett 🇯🇵Feb 3
@jet Almost all gone! 😬 They worked out very well, with a nice crispy crust and chewy texture. I shortened the kettling time as well, playing it by eye and probably doing 30 seconds or so per side. And I've learned to pinch along the join line of the rope before doing the second, through-the-hole roll shown here, to better prevent it coming partly unglued in the bath.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxAV3NdW5AU
The secret to shaping a bagel PERFECTLY every time.

YouTube
Show threadJet-BFeb 3

@fgbjr

All fresh-baked bread is popular!

Yes, I find it a struggle to keep the bagels round. If I really work to fuse the dough in a ring, then suddenly the bagel is no longer round, or too loosely circular. 🤣

It always amazes me how much they expand in 30 seconds of kettling.

To keep them from sticking to the cookie sheet (metal baking tray) i use cornmeal, because I don't have a baking stone. And the top I would dip in seeds, usually sesame.

Show threadFrank Bennett 🇯🇵Feb 3
@jet A big fan of sesame! I have some fresh that I grew and harvested in the summer, but I'm holding it for spinach in sweet & salted sesame sauce, a favorite from my Japanese recipe list.
Show threadJet-B

@fgbjr

You grew your own sesame seed?

Let me add a few more: …?!?

Wow. What kind of climate does that require? Do birds eat it before you can harvest?

#plant #crop #harvest #sesame #cooking

Feb 4 at 4:05amWeb
Show threadFrank Bennett 🇯🇵Feb 4

@jet Summers are hot here, not sure if that's a requirement, you'd have to look it up. Each plant sprouts pods running up the stem that explode to spread seeds when dry, so you harvest the whole plant and hang it up to finish drying when the first pods start to spring. Seeds will go everywhere when the dried plants are shaken, so you need a tarp underneath, and lots of patience to hand sort seeds from chaff after.

Birds weren't a problem for it.

Show threadJet-BFeb 4

@fgbjr

About sesame plants, Wikipedia says: "crops do best on fertile, well-drained, soils with a neutral pH. […] low tolerance for soils with high salt and water-logged conditions. Commercial sesame crops require 90 to 120 frost-free days. Warm conditions above 23 Â°C (73 Â°F) favor growth and yields".

I don't think that's the Pacific Northwest coast. 🌱