We are happy to announce that Orange Boot Bakery is now offering traditional boiled bagels every Wednesday. Or as they say online, it's now #BagelWednesday at Orange Boot!
One of the comments we often hear from our customers is how they just can't find a decent bagel in Regina anymore. Now you can.
We're starting with three basic flavours -- Plain, Sesame and Poppy. More flavours might get added in the future as inspiration (or a craving) hits.
Jennifer, Cindy, Rob and I have been working hard over the last couple of months to get the flavour and texture of our bagels just right. Especially getting a chewy crust with good colour without an overly dense crumb.
The very first bagels we made were really good, but after six or seven weeks of tweaking we've hit the sweet spot. It's surprising how much difference you can get between bagels by changing the length of the boil, the fermentation time, or the temperature of the bake. With bagels, the details matter.
Like all our bread, we take a long time to develop great flavour. Our bagel dough (untreated white flour, water, salt and yeast) is mixed on Monday, shaped into bagels and left to proof overnight in the cooler. On Tuesday morning, our apprentice Rob boils the bagels in water and malt syrup (the malt helps get a deep golden colour), tops them with seeds and bakes them right on the deck of a 500F oven. Then we fight over how many bagels we put in the display case and how many we have to hold back for 'quality control'.
Our bagels are made without added preservatives, so are made to be eaten the same day. The next day, toast them up first. If you need them for the weekend, slice and freeze them as soon as you get home, then toast them up when you need your bagel fix.
And as with all our baking, our bagels are made in small batches, so if you want a lot of them, please call ahead so we mix enough dough on Tuesday.