weinoo

New York City has never been short on bagels. At least not since the early 1900s, when the International Bagel Bakers Local 338 was formed. Hundreds of bagel bakeries existed - my paternal great-grandfather was a bagel baker in the Bronx - as a matter of fact, he and my great-grandmother are buried in the Bronx Baker's Mutual Aid Society plot at a cemetery in Springfield Gardens, Queens. (I also have a seltzer-man in my background, who sold seltzer off of a horse-drawn cart, but that's another story). Of course, hundreds of bagel bakers and bakeries meant that there eventually were competing unions, non-union shops, strikes, strife, walkouts, lockouts and all that good stuff that comes along with a good product, the labor that it takes to make a good product...and ownership. Socialism aside (and Socialism is what was behind those early labor unions and why they were important), along came Harry Lender, who basically screwed the pooch, by first mass-producing bagels (with a machine he bought, but didn't invent) and then by perfecting the slicing and freezing of his mass-produced bagel. Eventually, all hell broke loose, bagels grew to ginormous size, and whoever first put a blueberry into a bagel should get 30 smacks with a stale bialy. When I moved to California (a long time ago), I was sad and missed bagels (and don't get me started on pizza); that is, until I found a bagel place where they actually made bagels the old-fashioned way - hand-rolled, boiled and baked - in San Jo freakin' se. I patronized them for years until I moved back to New York...the land of the giant bagel (I'm looking at you, you decrepit, old, morally, spiritually and physically bankrupt H&H) - the better to make a sandwich on - something a bagel was never meant to do, in my opinion; that's what sliced bread, baguettes, rolls, lettuce leaves (please) and god-knows-what are all for - NOT BAGELS! Fast forward to 2014 and within the last three months, two brand-new bagel places (Baz and Black Seed) have opened (and I think there's another on the way). Both claim to hand-roll, boil and then bake their bagels the old-fashioned way - even if one is Montreal style, and boils in honey water and bakes in a wood-fueled oven, and blah blah blah (I imagine old Harry is spinning in his grave about now). So, what better way to spend some time, with Significant Eater available as a taster, than by trying these two new offerings? Let's first take a look at the products side by side. Hmmm..... I detect some ginormity in the Baz bagel, as well as a rather generous hand with the toppings... When put on a scale, the Baz bagel weighed anywhere from 2 - 3 ounces more than the Black Seed bagel - which was right in the ballpark of what a real bagel should weigh (just under 3 ounces). Here's an interior view for perspective... But really, it's all about taste, isn't it? And to be honest, to really taste-test a bagel, they should be eaten fresh - not the next day, not frozen, not whatever, but because of time constraints, I had to use the toaster. One half of each bagel was cream cheesed, and one half was buttered... The far-from-final analysis gave us a clear-cut favorite. The density, the weight, the crustiness and the taste of the Black Seed bagel did it for us...though Sig Eater did note that they were a bit sweet from their honey-water dip. The wood-burning smoke is evident while the bagels are still in their bag, but not really so much in the finished product. And the Baz bagel, which had a nice flavor, just did not have enough crust-to-crumb ratio for us...it's sandwich sized. Additionally, and don't tell Sig Eater, I tasted the bagels before they were toasted - and liked Black Seed's more that way as well. Oh - one little thing - I still prefer the minis that Russ & Daughters sells - they're specially made for R & D by the Bagel Hole in Park Slope, and they're my favorite. You can't make a sandwich on them, and why would you? Bagels were always meant to be enjoyed, a half at a time, with a schmear and a bit of lox. So don't worry, great-grandpa Harry. Someone will get it right one of these days.

Of course they are different versions - one offers steam and one doesn't. The large Breville holds a quarter sheet and the Cuisi doesn't. They both have a large footprint. I own both, but they are in separate apartments. The Cuisi toasts better, in my opinion, and offers a whole set of different functionality than the Breville. The Cuisi has a cool light.

By the way, you did use the bread bake function and not the steam bake, right?

Try a loaf in a loaf pan. Success is yours! And I think earlier in the thread we discuss pizza components - but this is never gonna be a pizza oven. In my mind, this oven is a great tool, but can't have too much asked of it. It's not a $3000 combi - it's a $300 really cool toaster oven.

I think they're pretty lousy for baking anything that you might want to eat.

I'm sure you read back to page 4 of this thread and my experiment with the same bread! Just reading the recipe you know it has to suck - the recipe isn't even what the title says it is! I'm sure with a little experimentation your breads will be just like you and we like 'em.

After toasting a few items in our DC BV-medium, I give the Cuisinart a higher grade when it comes to toasting. Much more even toasting.

Exactly. If you want a filet mignon, just buy a filet mignon.

Jeffrey used to sell "eye of chuck" to me to grind for burgers!

Some things really annoy me; which I guess if you've read some of my posts over the years isn't that surprising. Here's the latest I've seen - and it's actually being pitched as some great new discovery: The Manhattan Filet Steak. This yutz on the Food Wishes Blog actually has the gall to call it a new cut. It's not. It's just a NY Strip totally trimmed. But he learned about it on a "foodie field trip to Las Vegas," so it must be great. And then, to top it off, a video showing how to do it. What the video is good for is showing how a pan-fried steak gets nice and grey around the edges; in other words, a good reason to sous vide.

I do it too, when I want a dice. Does that make me a super duper too chef as well?

One of my friends called me last Friday - she wanted to buy her husband a grill for father's day. Ended up with a Weber Summit. Not that specific model, but one that cost more than my range. He loves it - I told him to be prepared as I will send him links to various necessary attachments!

Unless you carbonate them .

Steam Girl got a bit of a workout yesterday. Some veg from the green market... First, I made an (ill-adivsed) turkey loaf. Ill-advised because I used Empire ground turkey, which is kind of gross. I was able to make it tasty, and I imagine I could make a nice turkey loaf if I bought some turkey and ground it myself. This was cooked at Steam Bake 400°F for 40 minutes... Then I Steam Broiled the vegetables at 500°, on the 2nd highest broil shelf. 8 minutes, turned for another 8 minutes. These 3 vegetables are tough to do at the same time, as the asparagus was slightly overcooked while the carrots and potatoes were perfect... Dinner... Fortunately, I was only feeding myself. But, the damn oven works great.

As I mentioned in another thread, most internet videos aren't going to be your best teacher. Although you could watch a David Wondrich video, Or you could watch Charlotte make a French 75. Or you might start simple, with a champagne cocktail. Save the disgusting, sweet, ridiculous cocktails for later.

Of course, but what I'm trying to convey (badly?) is that it's the appearance of the beef in the burgers cooked sous vide that turns me off.

Yesterday I got a quart for $6, so I was happy.

While I like burgers rare to medium-rare, none of these sous-vide burgers look that appetizing to my eye. They just look too raw to me. And perhaps that's the difference when cooking a burger using "conventional" methods, like a hot frying pan or a grill or a griddle; sure, they're not perfectly rare from edge to edge - they may even have that dreaded little bit of grey - but in fact, they're perfectly "cooked," or at least they look and taste that way.

Of course there are many ways to cook vegetables; whatever works for the cook is good, isn't it? In addition to what Paul mentions above, another really good reason for blanching/shocking is that the end product, in many cases, is just better in my opinion. Better color, better flavor, better texture, etc.

Here's an idea which almost looks like a good idea... Bakerstone Pizza Oven Box scott?

If we could only get Soba to do this in video form, then we'd have something.

Mini bagels and lox? Or, smoked salmon on pumpernickel w/mustard + dill?

No - I'm happy with Steam Girl.

Do me a favor - don't watch commercials to learn how to cook. You're better of watching Cookin' with Coolio. Seriously, read eG, take a beginner's cooking class, buy a good book about techniques, and go to town.

That really looks like a piece of garbage.