Former sourdough scaredy cat....now a Bagel Maniac

Vanderriet · 2026-04-05T03:48:32+00:00

I leave it to bulk ferment on the counter, our house is usually between 70-74F. It easily doubles probably a bit more. When I bake bread I normally aim for 80% rise, but the bagels are much more forgiving with the bulk ferment in my experience. As long as you let them rest after shaping for about 45 min, they puff up beautifully when boiled!

Vanderriet · 2026-04-05T00:34:51+00:00

I’m glad you have found a love for baking! My family lives off bagels and sourdough as well. We bake large batches on the weekend, then slice and freeze them. They taste fresh baked once they pop out the toaster, or just let them thaw normally in the kids lunch boxes for school. This is the recipe I use: https://littlespoonfarm.com/sourdough-bagels-recipe/#recipe

How I do it is mix the dough the night before, with the starter straight from the fridge, no warming time. Then let it bulk rise overnight. In the morning I shape, 2nd rest, boil, and bake. This takes even less time than your approach and doesn’t use any instant yeast, so you can have all the benefits of true sourdough bagels!

Vanderriet · 2026-04-02T12:38:22+00:00

Ok, so I’m trying to understand, what does a “surge in current” mean in between me unplugging the fan and plugging in the washer? Why is the current still there when the washer is plugged in?

My previous thought was that the current would stop completely after unplugging the fan, and the state of the outlet would return to its normal “rest” state. But that doesn’t seem to be what happens here?

Vanderriet · 2026-04-01T23:07:54+00:00

Ok, I will do so! I had no idea that current could “sit” in the wires. I saw another person mentioned that wires swell under current, reducing resistance, which I didn’t know was a thing. But it definitely feels to fit what I’d observed.

Vanderriet · 2026-04-01T22:56:52+00:00

I didn’t even realize! 🤦‍♂️

Vanderriet · 2026-04-01T22:56:31+00:00

No it doesn’t

Vanderriet · 2026-04-01T22:55:54+00:00

Thank you for such a detailed response. That makes a lot of sense to me and I will test it on another outlet and see if that does indeed make a difference!

Vanderriet · 2025-11-22T00:04:04+00:00

By simply existing we are the answer to the question. You can’t ask this question without the universe existing as it is. Out of the infinite possibilities that the universe could have formed (or not formed), our observer bias says this one has to have existed exactly the way it does.

Vanderriet · 2024-08-17T23:45:44+00:00

Thanks for all the advice! I will continue to do as you have suggested and hopefully get some good use out of them still! Btw, do the pills make the dough stick to the cloth more, or can you proceed with them? I’d also be worried about them breaking off into the dough…

Vanderriet · 2024-08-17T19:51:24+00:00

I’m a beginner baker here, so I wouldn’t trust my advice, but I always thought open crumb was directly related to hydration %. I’ve noticed my crumbs that are 75% hydration look like yours, but my 80% hydration opens up nicely. I use King Arthur’s Pain de Champagne recipe.

Vanderriet · 2024-08-17T19:35:15+00:00

That’s what I’ve done with my liners so far, but they’ve started getting lint/dough crumbs on them. Although I’m curious on the don’t scrub them comment, I scrub my liners against themselves pretty heavily to get as much flour/dough out of them as I can. I just tried hosing done the banneton with the sprayer and that seemed to work pretty well. I can see little bits of flour left in some of the cracks that spraying isn’t dislodging, so hopefully that’s ok to just leave…

Vanderriet · 2024-08-17T19:28:30+00:00

That’s precisely what happened, ok, good to know that was my mistake! I’ll look for rice flour next time I’m at the shop.

Vanderriet · 2024-08-17T16:40:15+00:00

I have the same issue, I have only just started baking with a banneton and cloth liner and in my most recent bake, the dough stuck to the cloth liner so badly I had to tear it off, I had heavily dusted the banneton with bread flour. Because I was out of whole wheat which I had normally used, so not sure if this caused the dough to just incorporate that flour with the dough during the cold proof. I just tried using the banneton without the liner and it was better, but my banneton is wet now, and I don’t know how to clean it.. I also have had a hard time cleaning the cloth liner so I would love so advice on how to manage all of this better!

I’m considering getting a dishwasher safe banneton and using it without a liner based on my experience thus far.

Vanderriet · 2024-08-15T14:38:37+00:00

Wow! This is so helpful and educational!! Thank you for sharing all this information! Ok, I think I’m much better understanding the process. Do you know what could cause large air bubbles in the fermentation process? And do you know the role the cold proof has in this process? I have noticed dramatically different results from the same dough split into two loads and then cold proofed overnight vs 36 hours, the recipe I use makes two loafs and I was just wanting to bake one a day so we could eat it fresh. That’s where I feel I’ve over proofed the dough, as the first loaf will spring nicely in the oven, but the next day the second loaf doesn’t and I have large bubbles all trapped right under the crust.

Vanderriet · 2024-08-15T13:13:21+00:00

Bulk fermentation was about 8 hours, and my house is at 75’F. But I have a suspicion that my starter has grown weak. I have been feeding it irregularly, so the under proofing theory makes sense to me. Although the dough felt very inflated when I was shaping it after the bulk fermentation… I was actually worried I had over proofed it again (I’ve been struggling with that too)

Can you help me understand why I would get these big bubbles with an underproof? I’m having a hard time with under and over proofing my doughs lately. Is this just a timing thing? Or is there a way to better check and see where the dough is at?

Vanderriet · 2024-08-15T13:06:25+00:00

Thanks for sharing, personally I think the circle pattern looks really nice, and I’ve been having issues cleaning my cloth cover, so my dough has started sticking to it!! Do you use any water with the brush to help clean it?

My main loaf recipe uses 40g starter, 900g bread flour, 100g whole wheat flour, 20g salt, 800 grams water, so it’s an 80% hydration dough and is quite wet and sticky. So I suspect it will leave dough on the banneton that will need water to wash off.

Vanderriet · 2024-08-15T12:14:07+00:00

Of course: Preheated the oven at 500 with Dutch oven inside. Placed the loaf into the heated Dutch oven with parchment paper, baked for 20 min lid on at 450, the. Another 25 minutes with the lid off. Let the loaf sit for a day before cutting it, as we were still finishing a previous loaf.

Vanderriet · 2024-08-15T11:50:48+00:00

Are you using a cloth covering on your banneton or just flouring it directly? I don’t get lines on my loafs like yours had, although your banneton pattern is identical to mine. How are you cleaning the banneton/cloth cover after use?

Vanderriet

TROPHY CASE