Extreme Bagels!

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  1. Jonathan says:

    As usual, awesome and inspiring, Bill.

    Do you boil the bagels in a lye-based solution or do you use baking soda? How about the cream cheese? Is that cream that you have added a cream cheese culture to that you hang?

    I’d love to try (at least half of) this!

  2. ExtremeCook says:

    Hi, Jonathan!
    Lye? Baking soda? No way. Just a little malt powder or barley malt sysrup or even honey – helps give the crust a little sheen when it is baked. Is there a bread you make that is boiled in lye?

    Yes, a culture is added to the cream. Then it is allowed to sit overnight before pouring into the cheesecloth.

  3. Jonathan says:

    Well, I haven’t tried it myself but I believe that I’ve seen a few “traditional” recipies for bagels that involve adding lye to the water used to boil them. I personally have too much respect for the dangers of lye to keep any around the house. I may pick some up one day, though, to try out a bagel boil (as well as soaking some maize to make masa with). Neither fresh masa nor bagels (worth 2 cents) are available in Sweden…

    Until I do dare a lye experiment or two, it’s certainly nice to know that you acheive such spectacular results with non-dangerous ingredients.

    Keep up the hard work, Bill. I check the site nearly daily to catch your updates as quickly as possible. This is definately one of my favorite corners of the internet!

  4. ExtremeCook says:

    Jonathan. Do you really mean “lye” for making nixtamal (masa). I use “lime” – food grade slaked lime. I think there is a difference.

  5. Jonathan says:

    Yes, of course… Sorry about that. Sometimes two languages are too much for one head…

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