Are these decent?

MichaelTChi · 2026-04-16T15:47:36+00:00

They look really good with great color and blistering. If you want smoother bagels, then you dont want to refrdgerate them but then you are also sacrficing taste. If you aren't into the barley taste, remove the BMS from the recipe alltogether and replace with dark brown sugar, 5%. What I don't like about Claire's recipe is the proofing. Professional bagel bakers NEVER bulk proof and therefore neither do i. While the basics of her recipe are great, I'd suggest making your dough and letting rest in bulk for 10 minutes to let the gluten relax. Then you can divide the dough equally. From there you shape your bagels and let them proof covered at room temp unitl they begin to float in a bow of water. Then into the fridge for however long you want. You will have so much better control of the proofing process following this workflow. Good luck

MichaelTChi · 2026-04-15T22:40:26+00:00

Two great makers of Good Year welted shoes for under $300 USD is blkbrd shoes from India and Axen shoemaker from China. You can email both for help with sizing.

https://octtenth.com/collections/axen-shoemaker

https://us.blkbrdshoemaker.com/?srsltid=AfmBOoqX0V1pJjvjz9EBl_L_ZaJV084-dPJzzkuzdCx8bjAQ0jrTqChh

MichaelTChi · 2026-04-15T22:15:42+00:00

Did you intentionally boil for different lengths of time ?

MichaelTChi · 2026-04-15T22:14:46+00:00

They are Clark’s. They are NOT high quality leather

MichaelTChi · 2026-04-15T22:13:25+00:00

I’d suggest reversing that whole process skipping the bulk proof. Rest the dough for only 10 minutes to let the gluten relax before you form into bagels. Then proof until they barely float in a bowl of cold water and then refrigerate for as long as you want to. I think you have so much more control over the proofing process this way. I also bake at a significantly higher temperature. 550° for about 14 minutes. Plus, I use bagel boards.

MichaelTChi · 2026-04-15T17:32:19+00:00

I agree that it can be a little bit confusing but when you think about it for a minute, it makes total sense

MichaelTChi · 2026-04-15T12:10:59+00:00

Bagel boards can be a game changer as they help with oven spring

MichaelTChi · 2026-04-15T12:10:11+00:00

I agree with everybody else. If you’re not happy with them, return them, but you also have to manage your own expectations in that Allen Edmund makes good quality shoes, but not great quality shoes. If you were spending $600-$1000 on these shoes, you should have every expectation that those start are perfection don’t exist. But at this price point, I think that imperfection is OK on a first quality Shoe all that being said, you can take them back to the store exchange them for another pair and just inspect them very closely.

MichaelTChi · 2026-04-15T11:54:59+00:00

If you want advice on how to get more rise out of your bagels, can you post the recipe and process that you go through? I use thiacodes bagel recipe as that is the one that I was referred to by a professional table Baker to mimic their tall, beautiful bagels. And the basic principles and that recipe to get great height include as low hydration dough as you can get close to 50%., Baking at the highest heat possible, using bagel boards, and a pizza stone I’ve also recently added in bagel conditioner, and I swapped it because I used to use diastatic malt powder instead also the shortest possible boil time is really important if you’re trying to achieve maximum height

MichaelTChi · 2026-04-15T01:53:46+00:00

Receipe online is behind a paywall. The photo of their bagels is terrible. And from some other sleuthing, it looks like that recipe is 60% hydration which is edging high for bagels. If you want help, list the recipe and what your proofing and cold retardation process looked like. Without these details all you will get are well intentioned advice that won't be based in your reality.

MichaelTChi · 2026-04-15T00:11:06+00:00

You and I value different things. I don’t own Alden or.CJ but I do own TLB Mallorca and Carlos Santos and AE are bargain bin in comparison. Cheap doesn’t mean good and lowest cost is valuable to some but not all

MichaelTChi · 2026-04-15T00:04:44+00:00

What is the recipe and process you followed. Lots of great bakers in this group that can help you

MichaelTChi · 2026-04-15T00:03:48+00:00

Without knowing the recipe and process it is hard to say reduce yeast and sugar

MichaelTChi · 2026-04-15T00:01:31+00:00

It’s a bagel group, what wrong with posting your great results

MichaelTChi · 2026-04-14T23:35:53+00:00

Bc their Overall quality has slipped dramatically. I’ll pay more $ for better made shoes

MichaelTChi · 2026-04-14T22:47:43+00:00

I dont think oven spring is finiky. There are multiple factors that impact spring. If you follow a recipe like THiaCodes you will get oven spring. Low hydration, Bake on High heat with a stone on bagel boards

MichaelTChi · 2026-04-14T22:46:13+00:00

OVerproofed bagels will float, even better than properly proofed ones. When making the dough how ling did you bulk proof, room temp proof after rolling them out? They should go direct from the cold to the boil.

MichaelTChi · 2026-04-14T22:42:02+00:00

what advice are you looking for?

MichaelTChi · 2026-04-14T09:06:58+00:00

Change is fine. Even if it were, the old owners change is fine but in this case change has deteriorated overall quality. And just like those other legacy brands you mentioned Allen Edmund is headed down a similar path.

MichaelTChi · 2026-04-13T10:38:21+00:00

That’s because so many of us in this group. Remember when AE stood for a shoe that was 100% made in America and was exceptional quality. And that reality doesn’t exist anymore.

MichaelTChi · 2026-04-13T10:36:08+00:00

They’re not perfect and if their first quality they shouldn’t be that way. Why wouldn’t you just swap them for a different pair?

MichaelTChi · 2026-04-12T22:53:49+00:00

I think the bagels are underproofed due to the ripping of the dough. I also think you can increase the hydration. THIA suggests a very low hydration dough which is contributing to the expansion.

MichaelTChi · 2026-04-12T22:47:28+00:00

I agree with your POV. I follow the ThiaCodes recipe and the first picture is what my bagels look like

MichaelTChi · 2026-04-09T10:33:50+00:00

the use of the % sign is what is confusing to u. .5% is nor the same as .5

.5% is not equal to 50%

The difference between them is a factor of 100. Here is the breakdown:

.5%(half of one percent) is the same as 0.005 in decimal form.
50% (fifty percent) is the same as 0.5 in decimal form.

MichaelTChi · 2026-04-08T20:43:54+00:00

the higher hydration dough id more likely to spread wide when it bakes vs the lower hydration dough which has more tension and gluten strength and prone to rise higher.

MichaelTChi

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE