BIG BATCHA BAGELS!!!!
In Which Mike Makes As Large A Batch Of Bagels As His Mixer Will Handle!
A few people asked how to use an Ankarsum (formerly Electrolux Assistent, formerly Magic Mill) to make a large batch of bagels. They were having trouble and weren't sure they "were doing it right". Maybe what I do is right, maybe it's not, but - for the site's fans - here's how I make large batches of bagels with my Electrolux Assistent mixer.
This post focuses on mixing a HUGE mixer load of bagels. This amount is really a near worst case scenario. We are making 31 four ounce bagels. Why not 3 dozen? We're just 5 away from that number, and 3 dozen makes more sense than 31. Well, 31 is pretty much the maximum amount that will fit. You'll see some dough and flour fly out of the mixer in the early mixing stages. Making a more reasonable batch size, around 2 dozen, would eliminate these problems.
Since we have other posts about making sourdough bagels and even a long post about bagels to answer some more bagel making questions, this post will focus on the mechanics of mixing a near catastrophic amount of bagel dough. If you want more information about how we make bagels, we sell a cookbook about making bagels, and have bagel making classes from time to time.
Let's start with our formula:
| Ingredient | Grams | Baker's Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Active Sourdough Starter | 230 Grams | 8.46% |
| Olive Oil | 48 Grams | 1.77% |
| Water | 1320 Grams | 48.23% |
| High Protein Flour (1) | 2730 Grams | 100% |
| Salt | 64 Grams | 2.36% |
| Malted Barley Extract (3) | 94 Grams | 3.44% |
In an earlier version of this post we had included volumetric measurements, that is cups and spoons, for this formula. However, we got too many, "that didn't work for us" emails. Volumetric measurements just aren't accurate enough to make good bagels. So, those measurements are gone.
Our game plan is to add the ingredients to the mixer bowl in the order given, put the dough hook on mixer, let the mixer run for 5 minutes on it's lowest speed, and then let the dough rest for 5 minutes. I usually do this by setting the mixer's timer for 5 minutes and a kitchen timer for 10 minutes. When I am dealing with a more reasonable amount of dough, I just walk away once the dough comes together and deal with other matters for 10 minutes. The mixer knows what it's doing and doesn't need my snoopervision. The 5 minute rest period lets the flour fully hydrate. After the 5 minute rest, I mix the dough for another 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the dough and the batch size. Bagels take longer. This time, I gave the dough another 20 minutes of mix time after the rest period. The dough looked nice. At that point, I covered the dough and let it rest for an hour. After the hour of rest time, the dough was very nice to work with - smooth, supple, elastic enough to be lively, and extensible enough to let me shape the bagels.
That said, here's the video:
This leaves us with two questions, how did the bagels come out, and what are you and your wife going to do with all those darned bagels?
The bagels came out very nicely, as the pictures below suggest. We've been enjoying them for a few days.
As to what we will do with all those darned bagels, we've been giving them away and making friends for New York style Sourdough Bagels.
Bagels ready to boil
Bagels being boiled
Some baked bagels
Thank you for the video! I need to learn to leave the dough alone and let it do it’s thing! I appreciate seeing it in action with so much dough. Wow. I will probably never make a batch that large so I have nothing to fear, right?
Hi Lori,
You have nothing to fear but fear itself!
More seriously, the Magic Mill/Assistent/Ankarsum is a very forgiving mixer, so enjoy!
-Mike
Thanks so much! I make bagels iny Ank, and I use a similar formula (2500g flour/1400g water/etc.) I do 5/5/5 mix/rest/mix based on a previous post you did about the Ank. I’ll have to let it go for 20 next time and see the difference.
I look at a clock or watch as a way to reproduce past results. The first time you make a dough check the clock, and then watch the dough. The dough will tell you what it needs and when it is ready. The dough does not wear a watch! Instead of deciding to knead for 20 minutes, I’d suggest watching the dough and seeing when its ready. Of course you may want to just see what happens to the dough if you knead it for 20 minutes, and that’s fine – we learn by trying things!
Anyway, please let us know how the bagels turned out!
-Mike
Cool-
We’re New Yorkers (favorite bagel ever,,,,,
Montreal bagel♥️🥊🥊🥊
Kim
After you shape the bagels do you boil them right away or retard overnight?
Hi Victoria,
I go into more detail on my bagel making process in the Sourdough Bagel Recipe page. To summarize, I form the bagels, let them rise at reduced temperatures overnight, and then boil them for a minute or two. I bake them as soon as possible after boiling them.
Hope that helps,
-Mike
Did you not read the instructions on the use of the dough hook? After mixing the liquid ingredients the flour should be added in batches, not all at once. The dough hook should be in the middle of the bowl, not allowed to move back and forth.
Is there a need to make dough for 31 bagels all at one time? Just because the Ankarsrum was able to withstand this abuse doesn’t mean you should use it in this manner.
Hey Carolyn,
I bought my mixer back when Electrolux was selling them and the manual was awful. I think it was translated from Swedish to Chinese and then to English by people who were not native speakers of any of these languages, nor were they cooks or bakers. The person who sold me my mixer showed me how to use it, and it works very sell they way I used it., even if you and your updated manual don’t approve. The dough came out great!
Mixer abuse? Have you started a “Society for the Prevention of Mixer Abuse?” The bowl held more than it really wanted to hold, but the mixer motor was not in distress. It didn’t freeze, slow down or over heat. No mixer abuse occurred. I’ve seen some popular spiral mixers that froze at smaller batches.
Was it necessary to make 31 bagels in a single batch? Not really, but I had been asked how far I could push the mixer. More than 31 seemed to verge on mixer abuse.
-Mike
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I’m looking at getting an Ankarsrum. Looking at your recipe it appears the your hydration is just around 50-51%?
While this is a large batch to test the machine, I assume the something a 1/4 or 1/2 would also work, maybe even better? There’s very little info out there regarding low hydration dough’s in the Ank, and what isn’t very encouraging. However in your experience it seems to work well. True?
Hi Dave,
This test was, of course, absurd and past any reasonable load level. If memory serves, I’ve made batches of around 30 with no problems.
The recipe’s hydration is around 52 to 54%. When I calculate hydration, I consider the sourdough starter and the oil. Some world famous bakers argue that oil does not hydrate flour, however, other equally prestigious bakers argue that the dough acts as if it has been changed by the oil. When baking demi-gods argue, what are we mere mortals to do? I find including the oil in the hydration calculation seems to predict what the dough will do better than not including it in the calculation.
The Ank is a wonderful mixer and I miss mine a lot. It handled all but one dough I made with aplomb. That one dough was a high butter brioche – it just didn’t incorporate the butter. This prompted a move to a FAMAG 8s mixer. I really like the FAMAG, but the ANK was a LOT easier to move around the house. If you don’t need the marginally greater capacity of a Spiral mixer, you’ll be very happy with the ANK, once you get used to it.
Hope that helps,
Mike
So we know the max, how about the min size batch?
Hi DJ,
It’s been a while since I used my ANK. but I’d guess the minimum is about 10% of the maximum. Below a certain amount, the mixer just won’t effectively mix or knead. With planetary mixers, like Kitchen Aid or Hobart mixers, the minimum is about 1/3 the maximum load. With a spiral mixer the minimum is typically 1/10 the maximum load. The Ank is more similar to a spiral mixer.
Hope that helps,
Mike