🥯 Sourdough Bagel

Mix the following ingredients together in a container and leave covered to ripen for 12 hours overnight. It mixes up to a stiff consistency so I like to mix and knead the dough in a mixing bowl, then I transfer to a narrow and tall jar. Try to hit a final dough temperature of 78°F (25°C) for this levain. Total Yield: 170%, 196.6g. 23.18% Levain In Final Dough Mix.

A note on mechanical mixing: This dough is low hydration and comprised of high protein flour—it's a firm dough! I used my Haussler Alpha mixer to mix this for 5 minutes on speed one. You could use a KitchenAid stand mixer to mix this dough for a few minutes in the beginning, but I wouldn't push it too far and risk damaging the mixer—ultimately you make the call. After mixing in the KitchenAid, you could then turn the dough out to the counter to finish kneading like pasta dough, as described below. Make the malt syrup slurry: This will help the sticky, viscous barley malt syrup incorporate more easily into the dough. To a small mixing bowl, add a bit of the mixing water, barley malt syrup, sugar, diastatic malt powder, and salt. Stir until everything dissolves. To your mixing bowl, add the malt syrup slurry, flour, water, and ripe levain. If using a mechanical mixer (see the note, above), mix on low speed for approximately 5 minutes until the dough strengthens and begins to smooth. This dough is so firm it doesn't need much. If you do choose to use a mechanical mixer, you might need to cool the mixing water to ensure you hit the FDT of 78°F (25°C). I used cold water straight from my fridge. If mixing by hand, mix everything in the bowl until well incorporated. Turn the dough out to a clean work surface and knead the dough like pasta: fold half over onto itself and push the mass away from you with the palm of your hand. Continue folding over and pushing away for 8-10 minutes until the dough firms up, and it becomes hard to knead any further. Transfer your dough to a bulk fermentation container and cover.

Give this dough a single fold after 1 hour and 30 minutes into bulk fermentation. For the fold, turn the dough out to a clean work surface and do your best to fold it into thirds. Place the dough back into the bulk fermentation container with its seam side down, and cover. Let the dough rest, covered, for the remainder of bulk fermentation.

Use a half baking sheet (so it fits into your refrigerator) to hold the 12 pieces of shaped dough. Later, after boiling the dough, I upsize to a full baking sheet to help the dough evenly bake. Spread a thin layer of cornmeal on the half sheet to prevent the bagel dough from sticking during proofing. Divide the dough into twelve 125g pieces. First, degas the piece by tamping down a bit with your hand. Then, do your best to form the piece into a rough rectangle and cinch down from the top, so the dough ends up in a little tube. This cinching doesn't have to be forceful, and it helps to get the dough into a tube shape. Next, roll your hand in the center a few times to create a bulb at each end. Then, switch to two hands and roll outward to about 12 inches and a tube that's mostly the same thickness all the way through. If you prefer a bagel with a large hole, roll out the tube, so it's longer. Once rolled out to a long tube, wrap it around the backside of your hand between your knuckles and wrist. Overlap the two ends of the dough in the palm of your hand, and gently press the two ends together. Next, press your palm down on the work surface, and in a repetitive motion, roll the dough on the work surface repeatedly to seal.

Cover the baking sheet with a large, reusable plastic bag and seal shut. Let the dough proof at room temperature, around 72-74°F (22-23°C), for 2 hours. The dough should puff up slightly after this time but not excessively. If the dough still feels very dense to the touch, give it another 15-30 minutes and check again. After 2 hours, place the covered baking sheet into the fridge overnight at around 39°F (4°C).

Oven prep: Before you begin boiling your bagel dough, preheat your oven to 475°F (245°C) with convection or 500°F (260°C) without convection. Place one rack at the bottom third of the oven. Place a baking stone or baking steel on the rack to preheat. I steam my oven as described on my oven steaming method post, so place a roasting pan on the bottom filled with lava rocks to prepare to steam. I also fill a cup of ice and place it next to my oven (I will pour this over the lava rocks to steam the oven). Boiling equipment prep: Fill a wide pot with enough water so the bagel dough can float without touching the bottom (in my 7qt Staub Dutch oven, this was about 1.5 gallons). Bring to a low boil. Next to your stovetop, place a half baking sheet with a cooling rack inside, this will hold the wet bagels for a minute and allow them to drain. Next, line a full baking sheet with parchment paper — this will hold the dough as it bakes. Finally, grab any toppings you'd like (poppy, oat, everything bagel mix, sesame, etc.) and place them in bowls on your work surface. Boil: Once the water is at a low boil, boil the proofed sourdough bagel dough straight from the fridge, about 40 seconds per side. Using a spider strainer, transfer each piece to the cooling rack inside the baking sheet to drain while you boil the rest of the dough. Once the pieces are all boiled, move quickly to top them, if desired, and get them onto the final baking sheet. This dough should float immediately when dropped into the boiling water. If the dough sinks and doesn't pop up within a few seconds, it's likely under proofed. Give it more time to proof at warm temperature and try again.

Slide the full baking sheet with boiled dough into the preheated oven directly onto the baking stone or baking steel. Pour the cup of ice onto the pan with lava rocks and quickly close the oven. Bake at 475°F (245°C) convection (500°F (260°C) without convection) for 10 minutes with steam. After 10 minutes, vent the oven and remove the steaming pan, rotate the baking sheet 180°, and bake for 5 minutes longer. After this 5 minutes, turn the oven down to 450°F (235°C) and bake for 5 minutes longer for a total of 20 minutes. Remove the sheet when the bagels are nicely colored. Let cool 15-20 minutes on a wire rack. These are fantastic the first day they're baked and hold well for a few days after that in a bread box. I also like to wait till they are room temperature, slice in half, and then freeze in a freezer bag. They can be reheated in the toaster, as described in my post on how to store bread.