Tried the basic bagel recipe today with my 'carl' starter. They turned
out GREAT! I just could not believe how good they were. I burned my
hand slicing one fresh from the oven, but just switched hands and used
the burned one to get the butter!

The only thing I have to get the hang of is making the bagels 'look'
good. I am not too good at getting them to look like 'store bought'
bagels. But I will suceed eventually.

I used the MasterCook recipe found in the in this newsgroup. I added a
couple of tbsp of dry milk and it really made the bagels more
flavorfull and light.

I have converted my starter to unbleached white flour and then use
fresh ground whole wheat for the dough. It tastes better to me and my
family are more likely to eat them. Also, I have not used the Kitchen
Aid the last two bread baking times; just done everything by hand and
the breads have turned out so much better. I got one of those little
'scapers' with the rounded edge (99 cents) and do all but the kneading
in one bowl. Very easy cleanup and less messy. And it cuts the
kneading down to almost nothing since I incorporate very small amounts
of flour while mixing.

The bagels are certainly worth a try! (My low-carb diet has been
totally undermined!)

John

On 3 Dec 2005 18:46:40 -0800, "BigJohn"
> wrote:

>I burned my
>hand slicing one fresh from the oven

Hi John,

It's great that you are enjoying your bagel success, but as
good as they were hot from the oven, they are likely to be
even better if you let them cool, and then warm them again.

That's because there are all sorts of chemical byproducts at
the end of the bake and they have off tastes. By the time
the baked item has cooled, they are gone.

All the best,
--
Kenneth

If you email... Please remove the "SPAMLESS."

BigJohn wrote:

> ... I burned my hand slicing one fresh from the oven,

I understand ERs in New York City have what they call "bagel
syndrome"--one slashed palm where the knife slipped because someone was
silly enough to try to cut a bagel while holding it.

B/