Bagel Recipe
Paraphrased from Crust & Crumb by Peter Reinhart
Poolish:
4 cups bread flour
4 cups cool water
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix until smooth.
Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature 3~5 hours, until bubbly.
Refrigerate overnight, covered.
1 cup poolish sponge
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water
3 1/2 cups bread flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 tablespoons honey or malt syrup
1. Let the sponge sit at room temperature one hour to take the chill off.
2. Stir the yeast into the water and let sit three minutes.
3. Combine sponge, flour, salt, and honey in a large bowl, then add the water/yeast mixture.
4. Stir together, adding more water or flour, if necessary.
5. Knead until dough passes the windowpane test, about 15~20 minutes by hand. Dough should be dense and fairly dry, smooth and stretchable.
6. Divide the dough into 6-14 pieces, depending on the size bagels you want. (I did 16) Roll into balls, as if for dinner rolls, cover with plastic wrap and let sit 5 minutes at room temperature.
7. Line a pan with baking parchment and dust with cornmeal.
8. Form the bagels by sticking your thumb through each ball of dough and gently widening the hole by winding and stretching it. The hole should be about 1 1/2″ wide for big bagels (or even bigger, since mine nearly closed up in the end).9. Place the bagels on the sheets, cover with plastic wrap, let rise at room temperature 1 1/2 hours, then refrigerate overnight.
10. Remove the bagels from the fridge 30 minutes before baking. Bring a large pot of water to boil, preheat oven to 470*F.
11. Reduce heat on the water to keep it at a simmer. Gently drop the bagels in, being careful not to overcrowd the pot. They should sink to the bottom, then rise to the top. (I suspect I let mine rise too long, because they floated immediately. Still tasted good though.)
12. Let bagels boil 1 minute on each side. While bagels are boiling, sprinkle the parchment sheets on the baking sheets with semolina or cornmeal and spray with oil.
13. Return the bagels to the sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway through for even baking.
