Unique flavors, clean labels drive consumer bagel interests

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Unique flavors, clean labels drive consumer bagel interests

2 Dec 2024

KANSAS CITY, MO — From traditional Jewish cuisine to an iconic New York tradition, bagels are a staple in American pantries. Bagel producers are putting a fresh spin on this classic baked good with unique flavors and gluten-free varieties.

Bronx, NY-based Just Bagels appeals to consumers seeking a New York bagel made from traditional methods with high-quality ingredients, great flavor and texture.

“The difference between our bagels and others is that we are a real New York bagel — not New York-style — made just like those in a small bagel store but on the scale of a mid-sized commercial bakery,” said Cliff Nordquist, president of Just Bagels. “For us, no two bagels are alike, because no two manufacturing days are the same. Our bagel making is impacted by weather, equipment and the non-GMO, clean ingredients we use. Our customers know our bagels are authentic when compared with other mass-produced alternatives, and we always deliver artisan taste and texture.”

As Just Bagels scaled up from a small bagel store, it fine-tuned what made its bagels premium and adjusted formulations for mass production. The star ingredient is water from the Catskill Mountains, which Nordquist maintains to have the perfect mineral content to give bagels that crusty exterior.

Just Bagels forms its bagel rings on the Bake Tech dough makeup line. The rings are then positioned in two proof boxes to rise for about 45 minutes and placed in a walk-in box to age at 38° F for eight to 10 hours. This aging process is time-consuming, but it allows the yeast, malt and sugar in the dough to formulate that unique bagel flavor and crust.

“The water from the Catskill Mountains and the extended time that we age our bagels has the biggest impact on taste and texture,” Nordquist said. “Most manufacturers only age the dough from 10 minutes to an hour, but we mimic the process of a traditional bagel store that ages the dough overnight.”

Boiling the bagels is also key to creating the desired shine, crust and chew. Just Bagels submerges its product in 1,100 gallons of 200 °F water within a Babbco boiling system before placing the bagels in Babbco tunnel ovens to bake at 500 °F for nine minutes.

A personal mission to provide safe food for people who are gluten intolerant or who have food allergies prompted Michelle Carfagno, founder and CEO of Bensalem, PA-based The Greater Knead, to create a gluten-free bagel with the taste and texture of a New York-style bagel. The process for producing gluten- and allergen-free bagels is so unique that the company found itself in unchartered territory when scaling up.

“For us, persistent research and development and trial and error have been the right path toward success,” Carfagno said. “It is a constant balancing act to align recipe formulations that adhere to all ‘free-from’ requirements that can be machined effectively to produce a successful final product.”

Bagel producers are putting a fresh spin on this classic baked good with unique flavors and gluten-free varieties.

Manufacturing gluten-free bagels is difficult due to the lack of gluten, which provides elasticity to dough. Typically, a divider forms the dough into log-like portions that enter a bagel former that joins the two ends to create rings.

Carfagno quickly found that running gluten-free dough, which is stickier than traditional bagel dough, through this type of machine doesn’t work well. Initial batches produced bagels that looked like onion rings because the equipment flattened the dough, and the ends could not be properly joined. The operations team pivoted, replacing the bagel former’s stainless-steel interior with a material that could better handle sticky dough.

Recently, The Greater Knead partnered with Reiser to find a more effective solution. The bakery installed extruder equipment that forms bagels similarly to donuts on a conveyor belt.

While dough forming is still a challenge, Carfagno noted that using certain ingredients with the new extruder has improved the process. Oil is added to better bind ingredients and help plump the dough texture. Experimentation with psyllium husks and gums such as xanthan and locust proved these ingredients more effectively hold water in the batter, facilitating better forming in the machine.

“Testing ingredients and processes that result in retaining more moisture in the dough is critical to the mixing process for gluten-free bakery items to keep the batter hydrated,” Carfagno said.

Acquiring the extruding machine from Reiser was a game changer for The Greater Knead, increasing output, reducing labor costs and improving overall product quality. Further customizing this machine to help solve continued production challenges is definitely on Carfagno’s wish list.

Proofing and aging the dough is key for bagels made with gluten in order for it to ferment. The process allows the yeast to expand, creating flavor. It is not as important for gluten-free bagels, because they do not expand. However, Carfagno and her team found that allowing the bagels to proof for a short time develops that fermented flavor.

This story has been adapted from the October | Q4 2024 issue of Commercial Baking. Read the full story in the digital edition here.

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