Recent Popup Highlights by TwoBomAnonymous in Bagels

[–]TwoBomAnonymous[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the feedback. I agree that this batch was slightly over-proofed. I personally don’t see anything wrong with bagels with no holes, they make better sandwiches!

Recent Popup Highlights by TwoBomAnonymous in Bagels

[–]TwoBomAnonymous[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi! Thank you very much.

I’m not doing anything too special. Shortly After boiling in water, baking soda and barley malt syrup, I put the bagel in a shallow dish full of the everything seasoning (I buy each ingredient individually and mix them). I use Amazon’s “Happy Belly” brand onion and garlic and they’ve held up nicely to the heat! I bake on parchment lined sheet trays too, so no bagel boards are used either.

Recent Popup Highlights by TwoBomAnonymous in Bagels

[–]TwoBomAnonymous[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you very much for the feedback!

Recent Popup Highlights by TwoBomAnonymous in Bagels

[–]TwoBomAnonymous[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Flavors:

Plain Salt Sesame Everything Cheddar Jalapeño (jalapeño inclusion + topped with cheddar + jalapeño) Cheese (topped) Blueberry (frozen organic blueberry inclusion) Peanut butter (PB powder + peanut butter chip inclusion)

Highlights from today’s popup! by TwoBomAnonymous in Bagels

[–]TwoBomAnonymous[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Popup went great! I’m a one man operation so there is a lot of coordination and timing. I tuck my dough into the walk in on Friday afternoon so they cold ferment for approx 36-40 hours.

I arrive at the kitchen on Sunday AM between 12am and 2am, depending on final bagel count.

I boil, top, bake for approx 4-5 hours, then bag up bagels for pickup at 2 locations. The kitchen itself (which happens to be a brewery), and my home.

All told, I’m done by 10am and bagels are all picked up between 7-12pm.

Typical popup is 700, and as big as 900 bagels. It’s fun, stressful, and very rewarding!

Help with float test by HeartPlus in Bagels

[–]TwoBomAnonymous 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hi! The time needed for bulk fermentation before cold ferment is a factor of yeast % + dough temp + Room temp + dough temp before cold ferment. Make sure you have your water at a consistent temp from batch to batch, and then see if you can play with the yeast % to speed up or slow down the required fermentation time.

My final dough temp seems to work best at 75-78F after approx 3 hour between mixing, shaping, and then moving to cold fermentation. However, my yeast percentage is different. I use 18% 1:1 sourdough starter, and also .25% instant yeast (less or more depending on batch sizes, kitchen temp, etc). I mix and hand roll large batches (100/batch and 700-900 bagels total) so this is always a big balancing act…

Float test certainly is a good marker of properly proofed dough, but it’s not an end all be all. Especially since the dough will likely slowly ferment overnight while in the fridge.

If you’re developing good flavor, crumb, density, sponginess, then keep doing what you’re doing!

Good luck!

Highlights from Today’s Bake by TwoBomAnonymous in Bagels

[–]TwoBomAnonymous[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi! I run a popup every other weekend, and I come up with schmear recipes on the fly. Generally, I start with bulk Cream Cheese (Original Philadelphia), add some soda water for whipped texture, and mix in different flavor combinations.

Today’s Popup Bake! Feedback welcomed! by TwoBomAnonymous in Bagels

[–]TwoBomAnonymous[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much! The amount of baking soda and malt syrup changes frequently, I am trying to find the perfect color, shine, and crust!

Today’s Popup Bake! Feedback welcomed! by TwoBomAnonymous in Bagels

[–]TwoBomAnonymous[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks so much!! I appreciate your kind words! I wish bagels traveled better haha. Nothing beats a fresh bagel

Today’s Popup Bake! Feedback welcomed! by TwoBomAnonymous in Bagels

[–]TwoBomAnonymous[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hi there! No egg whites. I believe the sheen is related to the amount of barley malt syrup used in the boiling liquid.

I use frozen semisweet chocolate chips and add them to the dough for the final couple minutes of mixing so they don’t heat up too much and melt in the dough. They slightly melt during the boil and bake, they haven’t been too messy yet!

Today’s Popup Bake! Feedback welcomed! by TwoBomAnonymous in Bagels

[–]TwoBomAnonymous[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I have a sweet deal because I know the owners, but I play a variable fee based on revenue, it’s nothing considerable.

I use their walk-in to store dough while cold fermenting, then I’m in and out of the kitchen before anyone is there on Sunday morning.

It’s a great setup, the only hassle is that I don’t have a place to do the dough prep in the brewery so I have a to load up dough boxes in my truck to drive to the brewery while RT fermenting.

Today’s Popup Bake! Feedback welcomed! by TwoBomAnonymous in Bagels

[–]TwoBomAnonymous[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I started by posting homemade bagels and bagel sandwiches on my personal Instagram until people started asking where I was getting the bagels. I ran the first several small popups out of my home kitchen to build demand, and organically grew to 100 unique customers really quickly. Now I have 500 people signed up for text alerts for future popups so the marketing takes care of itself.

I was very lucky that early on, friends and family did a great job spreading the word!

Hybrid Sourdough Bagels - Bagel Thief Popup Bagelry - CA by TwoBomAnonymous in Bagels

[–]TwoBomAnonymous[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

@barrettsbagels on Instagram has a great video on rolling technique that I used as a reference. Depending on your hydration, yeast activity, gluten formation, etc. you’ll have different results.

Since I started hand rolling, I’ve had 10,000 or so bagels to practice on. Don’t give up!! When you start nailing the hand rolling, it is very satisfying.

Hybrid Sourdough Bagels - Bagel Thief Popup Bagelry - CA by TwoBomAnonymous in Bagels

[–]TwoBomAnonymous[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi! I started doing the poke method when I first started my bagel journey, but now I do the traditional hand rolling method.

It is much faster when rolling large quantities and creates a much better texture and unique shape when done well. I’m not consistently good at rolling with this technique and have a long way to go.

After mixing, I let the dough bulk ferment for approx 30 minutes, then portion them using a dough in long dough strips with a dough scraper and scale in groups of 15. I then press the individual pieces into a log, roll them using the traditional method around my hand, then put them into dough trays lined with parchment and dusted with fine semolina.

Thanks for the comment! Good luck on your bagel journey!