A bagel is unique in that it is boiled briefly and then baked. Your first bagels might be a bit oddly shaped but I promise they will taste much better than store made. Yields 12 - 2.5oz
Ingredients
1 ¼ warm water 295g
4 cups bread flour, 480g
1 tbsp white sugar 12g
2 tsp diastic malt powder (optional)
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp vegetable oil 12g
2 tsp instant yeast or active dry 6g
Water bath:
3 quarts (12 cups) water 2.8L
1 tbsp salt kosher, if using regular table salt use slightly less
2 tbsp brown sugar 26g or more if desired
1-3 tbsp Malt barley syrup (optional)
Egg with water
3 tbsp Bagel seasoning mix
Instructions
Please read Susy's tips and tricks below.
Place dough ingredients in your bread machine as suggested. (No need to proof your yeast. Use Dough setting. Remove dough immediately. Do not rise.
Divide the dough in 2.5 oz /70grams). About 12 bagels Set aside, cover and rest. The dough will be soft and pillowy. This may take 20-30 mins for a puffy balls.
While the dough balls rise heat water in a pot.
Begin shaping your bagels. Roll into a rope/snake. Try to make it as even as possible. Then shape into a circle You want to be sure and pinch the dough firmly together so that it won’t come apart. Practice makes perfect! (See note below for an easier option.)
Let these beautiful bagels cover and rest and til they are just a bit puffy. Do the poke test. (Poke and the indent should stay for a second.) About 15-20 mins works.
Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly grease.
Set oven to 425F/220C.
Now bring your seasoned water up to a heavy simmer. Do not boil hard. Gently place a bagel in the seasoned water using a slotted spoon. If the bagel doesn’t float to the top; the dough didn’t rise enough. Let them rise some more. Don't crowd your pot.
Be sure and turn over the bagels so all sides become shriveled. The longer they simmer in the water the chewier they become. I do it for a couple minutes.
Lay wet bagels on on a parchment or greased sheet. Place 2-3” apart. Do an egg wash and some seasoning if desired. I do 6 at a time.
Bake on the middle rack until medium brown. Approximately 13-15 minutes. Remove from sheet and place on rack until cool. Store as desired.
Prepare one sheet at a time. Do not bathe your bagels and let them sit while the others are baking. Wait until the oven is ready for a new batch.
Susy's Tips and Tricks
It has been suggested that one reason New York and Montreal have such delightful bagels is the water pH etc. Choose a water with a flavour profile you prefer.
Active dry yeast works too. No need to proof in water use dry. It may add an extra 15 minutes to rise.
You may need a little more water or flour check your dough ball. Mine ended up needing 3 tbsp more this time.
You can use regular all-purpose flour but bagels won’t be as chewy and have quite the crust. Still they will be awesome! You can also do an egg wash prior to baking, you could sprinkle with sesame seeds, or sprinkle some cheese.
Rather than roll into a snake and then try to get the ends to seal. You can leave them in a bun shape and using your index finger and middle finger under the dough and your thumb on top you just pinch down until the dough is thin enough to tear and then use both index fingers to shape the bagel into a larger round with proper size hole.
Do not rest after the boil.
Do you need a hole? Nope, they were traditionally made this way for placing on a rod to display them.
Blend an egg with a tbsp of water for the egg wash. Then sprinkle Bagel seasoning on top.
Do bagels in batches. Shape all. But don't bath them all at once.
If you don't have scale. Form and even log and cut as evenly as possible.
