Bagels

Total Time: 45 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients

• 2 2/3 cups bread flour (340 g)
• 1 1/2 cups water (340 g)
• 1/8 teaspoon instant yeast
• 3/4 cup water (lukewarm 170 g)
• 3 tablespoons honey (or barley malt syrup 42 g)
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast (5.5 g)
• 3 teaspoons table salt (17 g)
• 2 quarts water (wide pan)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon table salt

Recipe

• 1 mix starter or poolish ingredients in a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel. leave to ferment at room temperature for 7 to 8 hours until bubbly and swollen in size.
• 2 add the starter or polish to the mixing bowl of a mixer or to a large bowl. to that add the water, honey, flour, salt (on one side of the bowl) and yeast (on opposite side of the bowl.
• 3 using a dough hook on the lowest setting (or by hand), mix all ingredients until well mixed (2 to 3 minutes) and turn off the mixer. cover the bowl and let sit for 5 minutes.
• 4 knead with the dough hook on the lowest setting (or by hand), for 5 minutes and tip out onto a lightly floured counter. stretch the dough into a large rectangle and fold letter-style, top to middle, bottom over top and side to side.
• 5 place in an oiled, straight-sided clear container and cover.
• 6 after 15 minutes, repeat the stretch and fold procedure and cover again.
• 7 let rise at room temperature for 30 to 45 minutes until the dough is 1 1/2 times as large as it was initially or doubled in volume.
• 8 divide into 16 equal pieces and roll each into round balls.
• 9 preheat the oven to 450°f.
• 10 press each ball with thumb and forefinger to form a hole and use fingers to roll and stretch the bagels until the holes are about 2 inches in diameter. place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper sprayed well with vegetable oil spray. this prevents the wet bagels from becoming one with the parchment.
• 11 cover with oiled plastic and let rise for 15 to 20 minutes or until one of the bagels floats in a bowl of cold water.
• 12 meanwhile prepare the boiling bath by mixing all ingredients and bringing to a light boil.
• 13 also bring out the sesame seeds, rehydrated onion flakes, poppy seeds or whatever the toppings are you choose. i like to rehydrate onion flakes and toast the sesame seeds before making the bagels.
• 14 boil each bagel (4 to 5 at a time if you can without crowding the pan) for 1 minute and flip the bagels with a slotted spoon to boil on the opposite side for 1 minute as well. remove with the slotted spoon and return the boiled and swollen bagels to their parchment paper.
• 15 put toppings on the wet bagels and bake at 450 f for 6 to 7 minutes, rotate the pans and bake for another 6 to 7 minutes being careful not to over-brown the bagels. bagels should be dark golden in color.
• 16 place bagels on a cooling rack and let cool before slicing.