r/Bagels

Mine is avocado bacon egg! Sometimes just strawberry or blueberry creamcheese spread , by the way Italy spicy sausage good as hell too.

Yesterday was a really emotionally draining day for me. I truly did realize that I was fooling myself. My therapist no longer cared about me as a person. And I decided to do the hard thing and point that out to her—holding up a mirror of her actions to her. Politely, of course. Stating, "Hey, you're not the same person I met back in 2024; what happened?" A year or two ago, you would have gladly helped me out with this issue, no questions asked.

For context, I was asking her to write me a reasonable accommodation letter for my job.​I have autism and my company might start asking people to work in-office again. So, I wanted to be proactive about that and have that letter on hand stating why the office environment is a sensory nightmare for me. Because it is! Work from home has been nothing short of a godsend for me. I've been doing it for 6 years, and my performance drastically improved.

​A year ago, my therapist would have gladly sent this letter and gotten enthusiastic for me—you know, telling me something like, "Good on you for standing up for yourself." You know how I know? Because she did the same thing for me when I bought my condo; she wrote a letter stating why one of my cats is a necessary emotional support animal.

​And she told me back then, "I'm so proud of you for not only being able to come so far as to accomplish your goal of buying a house, but now you're advocating for yourself as to why you need more than one pet." They have a one-pet rule here where I live, and I wasn't about to get rid of one of my beloved cats. My therapist understood that very well and was super happy for me back then.

​Anyway, I don't know what happened. I don't know if she's just emotionally burned out or has too many patients. But when I asked her for an accommodation letter for my job to maintain my employment, I was met with her cold response in a MyChart message saying that my fear was unreasonable and silly, stating that she wouldn't help me.

​This is the second time I've had a therapy session with her where her responses to me have just been so downright cold and dismissive. Last month, I was talking about a real family trauma that I had, and I was deeply upset about it. I even documented exactly what happened thoroughly in a Word document with a bulleted list for her to kind of really envision what I was going through. Do you know what her response to me was? "You're focusing on too many negative things; have you tried going out there and joining a club to make yourself feel better?"

​She didn't want me to talk about my trauma or focus on what had just happened to me at all—which, by the way, involved the death of a beloved family member. And I was just so taken aback and hurt by that. It left me going, "This wasn't very helpful." Why would I want to join a club and focus on positive things when I'm going through so much hurt, and I just needed someone to be in my corner and hear me out? I don't have a lot of people in my corner, so it's not like I can just turn to a friend or loved one.

​I kept my feelings to myself, hoping things would change. But after this last cold-hearted message where she told me she flat out wouldn't help me, I decided to tell her how I really felt—respectfully pointing out that she has changed and she's no longer that person that I met in 2024 who was so proud of me and so happy for me.

​I am a woman with autism managing a lot of responsibility with no real help from anyone else. And I can't deny the fact that I'm super depressed about it. Anybody would be. But I'm here, and I'm making it, and I just wish I had somebody to talk to about what was going on in my life. I'm not necessarily looking for someone to "fix" me; I know I'm always going to be depressed. That's inevitable given my lifestyle and my autoimmune conditions. It's just way too much on my plate, and it's constant; I never get a break or time to myself.

​Anyway, I was going down a rabbit hole there. But what ended up happening to me yesterday is that instead of looking at her own behavior, my therapist just got crueler, colder, and harsher. No, I'm not making that up; I have the MyChart messages, and I reviewed them over and over. I've even asked others what they thought, and they said, "Yeah, that's not right; there's something really dark and cruel about the way she worded her MyChart messages to you." It became clear to me that that person I thought I knew is truly gone.

​I am now mourning the loss of someone who I thought would always have my back and be proud of me. You know, I told her in my message: I truly do understand what it is like to be burned out. But every day, I still go to my job as a patient support advocate, and I remember that what is going on in my life isn't my patients' fault. I give them the best self that I have. Because it's important when you work in a patient support role to have that patient know that you're on their side and you're fighting for them and you're going to do what's right by them.

​Anyway, I was met with my therapist, basically telling me, "Okay, well, here's the door; if you don't like the way I am now, then see yourself out." To say my soul is crushed is an understatement. I really thought I knew this person. I thought she was there to help me. But that is no longer the case. I don't know what happened, and I'm sure skeptics will blame me.

But no, I just think she either has something personal going on, or maybe she just has way too many patients. It doesn't matter; I don't deserve to be treated like that, and it has really closed off my mind to the thought of getting more therapy. I'm tired of putting myself out there. I've been doing it for 24 years, and I still just haven't found that person who is going to have my back and see me through thick and thin.

​I am so beyond hurt right now. I can't even describe it to you. I feel like a good friend of mine just straight up died. Hypothetically speaking, that's what's happened. The person I met in 2024 is gone, replaced with an empty shell of the person they used to be who no longer cares about me or my well-being.

​Anyway, I'm not looking for positive platitudes or someone to tell me why I'm wrong. Especially don't want to hear that "life gets better." I'm on ketamine therapy now, and I have been for a long time. I think it's the most effective type of therapy I've ever had in a clinic. It's opened up my eyes to so many things that depression made me blind to before. I think I'll just stick with that, and I don't know what I'll do about my emotions. Process them by myself, I suppose.

​Anyway, I really had to get that off of my chest, and I know this is a lot. So, if you read to the bottom of this gigantic post, then I sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart. Whether or not you agree with me, that's okay. I don't expect everyone to agree with me. But I do expect people to be mindful of what they say to me. I am in a really heart-hurting, vulnerable position right now. And I don't want to be told why I'm wrong. I don't think I'm wrong. I think I'm someone who has just really been betrayed by someone I thought had my back.

I'm hurting. My heart hurts, my head hurts, I'm exhausted. I just wish I had a friend to reach out to right now so we can just, I don't know, go get some food and talk about silly things. But I don't have someone to do that with. It's really weighing in on me. I feel so alone right now.

Recipe: Sally's Baking Addiction Homemade Bagels

Did a 12 hour overnight proof in the fridge, topped with garlic powder, oregano, black pepper, and salt.

All my seeds fall off. I make these for a market and I freeze them in bags, but all the seeds fall off like crazy.

I boil in baking soda and sugar and really press the seeds in, they come out of boiling for 30s a side and I place them upside down in a bowl full of seeds and give it a press.

These I tried freezing not in the bag but on a tray to see if that helped but if anything it made it worse.

I also tried toasting the sesame seeds first but that didn't seem to make a difference

Any ideas on how to prevent this from happening? All those seeds in the bag seem like a huge waste

Saturday, May 16th, 8-11 am PDT, 4765 NE Fremont, Portland, Oregon. Follow on insta @bwbagelclub

Hello bagel experts! I tried making bagels for mother's day and was using the double proof method. It didn't turn out well visually... I'm a bit embarrassed but will try it again this weekend and would appreciate any tips please. TIA!

Proof 1 - room temperature and let the dough grow twice in size; then punch down and separate into 8 even pieces; wait for the dough to rise and do the water test to make sure it floats

Proof 2 - after doing the float test, put the bagels in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours. Boil it in honey and baking soda for 1 minute on each side. Bake directly on pizza stone and silicon mat. Turned the silicon mat 180 degrees half way through the bake.

Question - I think my main issue is shaping and also not weighing out the dough into equal pieces ? I think I was afraid after proof 1 to punch down the dough (felt like it would undo all the air) and reshape the dough by rolling it into a ball and poking a hole through.

Question 2 - After proof 2, the bagels are floating but still don't seem large enough. Was it due to the shaping issue? Or is the syran wrap essentially weight down the dough in the fridge?

Question 3 - I didn't get a crispy outer edge either. Any thoughts on what I did wrong?

Made a big batch of everything and cinnamon raisin so that I could work on shaping as this seems to be where I was fucking up.

I think even though you can get a really nice bagel by rolling into a log with tapered ends and then rerolling around your hand, it can produce inconsistent results. I think poking a hole and stretching the bagel around the hole seems the way to go!

Any other feedback is appreciated:)

16 Sourdough Bagels (8 plain, 8 cinnamon raisin)
Using stiff starter + stand mixer
Starter build:
20g stiff starter
160g strong white bread flour
80g water
Mix into a firm dough ball and leave 3–5 hrs until slightly domed and airy inside.
Dough:
1000g strong white bread flour
520g water
250g active stiff starter
20g salt
40g sugar or honey
Cinnamon raisin additions (for half the dough):
120–150g raisins (soaked + dried)
10g cinnamon
optional 15g brown sugar
Method:
In stand mixer bowl, combine water + torn starter pieces.
Add flour + sugar and mix on speed 1 until shaggy.
Add salt.
Knead on speed 2 for ~8–10 mins total (with a short rest halfway if mixer struggling).
Divide dough in half.
Mix raisins/cinnamon into one half on lowest speed briefly, then finish by hand if needed.
Bulk ferment covered for ~4–5 hrs in cool kitchen, until about 50% risen.
Divide into 16 pieces (~115g each).
Pre-shape balls, rest covered 10 mins.
Roll ropes (~20–25cm), wrap around hand, overlap ends well and seal firmly.
Refrigerate covered overnight (12–24 hrs).
Next day:
Float test — bagels should float within ~10 sec. If not, leave out 30–60 mins.
Boil in water with:
1 tbsp honey/sugar
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Boil 30–45 sec per side.
Optional: egg wash cinnamon raisin bagels.
Bake at 220°C (200°C fan) for 20–25 mins.
Tips:
Dough should be VERY stiff.
Don’t skip the 10 min bench rest before shaping.
Seal bagel seams aggressively or they’ll open during boiling.

First time using a new oven and got really bad burn spots. :( Baked using convection at 450F with some ice cubes for steam, rotating halfway through. Any ideas how I could fix this?

This is my second attempt. I‘m not really getting a nice crust with microblisters and the inside doesn’t look right? I tried a different recipe than my first attempt this time. It was 2% fresh yeast, 58% hydration, 1.5 hour bulk proof to double size and 15 minutes rest time before boiling with baking soda.
I didn’t do overnight fridge this time because the first time around, I did it and they turned super mushy so I had to reshape them in the morning.
Maybe I shouldn’t try to add in ingredients? These ones were jalapeño cheddar.
Any help appreciated !

Hello bagel experts! First off, I really appreciate this sub and a lot of friendly people wanting to share tips. Thanks again and below was my recent try and my learning points were the following in case it helps another first-timer.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Bagels/comments/1ta46b5/bagel_help/

1. Have everything measured out in grams, including the water! This is how you will ensure the bagels are portioned correctly. Seems like most people shoot for 140 grams per bagel.

2. Don't be afraid after the first proof to shape the bagel. I thought initially you shouldn't punch out the air but don't be afraid to divide and shape.

3. Look at the ratio of ingredients. There are recommended % for each ingredient.

Revised recipe for 8 bagels. May I get another second set of eyes on here before I give it a try? Appreciate any advice so my friend's don't eat sad bagels when they come over for day night. : )

Bagel Ingredients

·         382 grams warm water (between 100 to 110F)

·         5 grams yeast

·         695 grams bread flour

·         19 grams honey

·         14 grams salt

Water Bath

·         2 quarts water with ¼ cup with 85 grams of honey

·         1 tablespoon of baking soda

Prepare The Dough

1.       Whisk the warm water and yeast together directly into the mixer; sit for 5 minutes

2.      Then add the sugar, flour.  Mix a bit and add salt last.  Mix for about 5 to 7 minutes.

3.      Proof 1 - Transfer to greased bowl and cover.  Wait for 1 hour or double in sized.

4.      Shape and float test – divide into 8 pieces (aim for 139 grams per bagel), shape it, then perform a float test (if it doesn’t float within 10 seconds, let the shaped bagels proof more before testing again)

5.      Proof 2 – put the bagels in the fridge, wrapped, for 12 to 24 hours

6.      Get the water bath going then drop in cold bagel directly from the fridge; 1 minute on each side (do this in batches; keep the 4 in the fridge until ready for batch B to boil and bake)

7.      Let each bagel drain on a wire rack for 1 minute; while bagels are damp add the toppings

Baking (normal not convention)

1.      Preheat the pizza stone at 425 degrees, ideally for at least 45 minutes so the stone is fully saturated

2.      Put the 4 bagels on the Silpat lined sheet, slide the sheet directly onto the preheated pizza stone. 

3.      Bake at 425 for 15 to 18 minutes.  Roate the pan 180 degrees at the 8 minute mark. 

4.      Let batch A cool.  Let the pizza stone reheat again for about 10 minutes before baking batch B. 

Second generation, THIA codes bagel recipe. 54% hydration and a bagel sponge even though that’s not part of the recipe just because I like it 140 g a bagel. 550° oven on a bagel board for five minutes and then flipped over for another 11 1/2. The last photo is five minutes in before they were flipped.

The process comes pretty naturally to me, I guess from my bread experience, but I like to think it’s because of my NYC roots lol.

Enjoy pics from my last few weeks of bakes. Still tweaking my oven positioning around hotspots to get a bit more even browning. Each bagel is minimum 150g which I get is comically large, and makes the baking part a little harder, but those are the NY bagels I know and love. It should feel like a brick in my stomach after I eat one.

Hello fellow bagel bakers (and lovers)!

I have the ambition to open a bagel and deli where I am a little outside of Tampa. I believe it could be successful based on the flavor I produce…problem is I know it takes more than that.

Does anyone have any advice on how to start? What size equipment, ovens to use, and basic systems to implement? My only experience is baking for my own cottage food combined with some commercial food production.

Thank you in advance. I appreciate you all and happy baking!

~Brian

Gay bacon, now gay bagels