Nothing quite like fresh bagels. I'm really beginning to get the hang of these:
Onion, and a real treat. As I don't make them as often as I (perhaps) should, I'm still working through the best process. Tips that I can, for now, recommend:
- Use a high-protein bread flour. I've mostly switched to King Arthur's all-purpose for breads, since I get good results and a slightly crustier crust. Sometimes, though, when that extra gluten's important - chewy bagels, or breads loaded with non-structural flours and grains - bread flour's worth using.
- Retard the shaped bagels in the refrigerator (or winter garage) overnight. Using a pre-ferment gives great flavor, but tends to a softer dough, which isn't ideal for bagels. The cold also helps prevent them from expanding too much when boiling, so that they stay nice and chewy inside.
- Along those lines: allow minimal rising. They'll puff, and still be tasty, but less bagel-y. An hour of primary fermentation seems ideal.
- Use a low hydration. Hamelman recommends 58%, but I bumped it down to 55%, since the onions contribute extra moisture. I'll have to fiddle around for regular bagels, but I have been happy with the 58% benchmark in the past. This makes for a tough dough to work - and it really needs some serious kneading - so a stand mixer is essential here.
- Bake on stone. There's some uneven coloration here, since my firebrick arrangement can only accommodate a dozen bagels (at 900g flour for the batch), giving a browner crust around the edges. But overall, they're better-looking than any I've ever made on sheet pans, and surprisingly easy to move about on a peel.
- Make friends. These are amazing they day they're made, but get a little tough to slice by the time two people can work through a dozen. I could bake fewer, but a full dozen at once - like making two loaves of bread - is just a few minutes more work. Really. And who'd turn these down?
