Question 1

What if I work as a community caregiver? Can I bring the bagels into work?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely! If you work as a medical professional, educator, utility worker, animal shelter volunteer, etc. bringing bagels to your fellow community caregivers not only fulfills the promotion, but also buys you some goodwill at the office!

Question 2

What should I do if I run out of Dusting flour?

Accepted Answer

If you run out of dusting, no worries. Any all purpose or high gluten flour in your kitchen would make a perfectly fine substitute.

Question 3

What happens if I leave my bagels for too long?

Accepted Answer

If your dough is outside of the fridge. The yeast will continue to eat the sugars present in the dough breaking down its structure and making it very difficult to use.
 
If your dough is inside of the fridge. This is less of a problem as yeast activity is significantly slowed down by cooler temperatures. Nonetheless, as time goes on the yeast will continue to eat the sugars breaking down the dough's structure and making it very difficult to use.

Question 4

What exactly is the promotion again?

Accepted Answer

If you donate 1/2 your bagels away and submit a picture (of you with one of your bagels over your head as a halo) and a brief explanation answering who you gave to and what giving to them means to you, then you're entitled to 50% off your next charity bagels kit.

Question 5

What if I want to do the promotion but don't use social media?

Accepted Answer

No worries! With your permission, we'll make a post on our social media (Instagram) using the image and bio that you and your family would provide.

Question 6

What is the 'bagel halo?'

Accepted Answer

The bagel halo is our signature picture pose. In it you emulate a savvy baking angel by creating your own halo by putting one of your homemade bagels over your head and taking a photo. When you post your bagel halo on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram under #charitybagels and donate your bagels to a local first responder or emergency service, you earn 1/2 off your next kit.

Question 7

The Malt packet (or the malt at the bottom of the Flour bag) has hardened. Is that a problem?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely not. Malt is notoriously hydrophilic and occasionally -- even when sealed or mixed in with other ingredients -- can still harden and clump together. If this is the case, don't worry it's still safe for consumption (after all it's basically hardened sugar). If you notice it in your dough, continue mixing or try pinching the small pieces you notice.

If it still doesn't dissociate into the surrounding dough, you can either discard it or remove it from the dough and hammer it until it turns back into a powder upon which you can mix it back in with the other ingredients.

Question 8

Where is their flexibility in the scheduling?

Accepted Answer

When making the poolish it's recommended to do around 8 hours at room temperature, but if you wanted to use the poolish later you can store it in the refrigerator for twice the remaining time that it would have been out at room temperature. For example if you've got 4 hours at room temperature left, you can put it in the refrigerator and delay its completion for 8 hours.
 
Once your dough has been made and left out at room temperature for two hours, you can then put it in the fridge for anywhere from 7 to 24 hours.
 
When you're taking your dough out of the fridge, you can leave it at temperature for anywhere 1 and 2 hours. When your creating tight balls, the timing becomes a little less flexible because dough is a living thing and when not refrigerated is liable to overproof if were not careful. With that in mind, we cut all twelve of our bagels and let them proof for 15-20 minutes, then we shape them and let them proof for 15-20 minutes before boiling them. 
 
Boil each side of the bagel for 20-40 seconds and then let it cool for a few minutes on a cooling rack before putting it in the oven for 12-16 minutes convection or 20-25 regular.

Charity Bagels

Frequently asked questions