- Several tablespoons cornmeal, for dusting baking sheet
- 15 ounces preferment (see right)
- 1 pound bread flour
- 1 ounce sugar
- ½ tablespoon salt
- ½ ounce vegetable oil
- 1 ounce malt syrup
BAGEL PREFERMENT, OR POOLISH:
- 1 ½ cups water, at room temperature
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ⅛ teaspoon instant yeast
Makes 6 bagels
1. Dust a baking sheet with cornmeal.
2. Mix the prepared preferment with all ingredients in an electric mixing
bowl using a dough hook on medium speed for 15 minutes.
3. Cut dough into 5-ounce pieces.
4. Roll into balls, cover with a tea towel, and let set at room temperature for
10 minutes.
5. Using the snake method to hand-form each bagel, roll each 5-ounce piece of dough into a 14-inch string. Connect the ends making sure there is a tight seal.
6. Place on cornmeal-dusted baking pan uncovered, and set in the refrigerator overnight.
7. The following day, preheat oven to 450° if using a conventional oven; preheat oven to 375° if using a convection oven.
8. Place bagels into a pot of boiling water for approximately 30 seconds.
9. Remove bagels with slotted spoon and place on a burlap-lined board, top side down. If you don’t have a burlap-lined board, place bagels on a greased cookie sheet.
10. Bake for 2 minutes. Then flip the board onto pizza stones to finish baking, approximately 10 minutes more.
BAGEL PREFERMENT, OR POOLISH:
Mix all ingredients well, cover, and let set for at least 2 hours.
This recipe originally appeared in "Everything Bagels" by Lynn Cline.