"If they ain’t boiled, they ain’t bagels"

The culinary arts; we’ve all heard the term, but what separates everyday food from what we all recognize as food belonging in the aforementioned category? For one, the pursuit of perfection. And two, care in the selection of ingredients, and in their preparation. That’s why I tagged this post under art, because when I make bagels it is with that pursuit of perfection that differentiates it from making a bologna sandwich. Poor example; I don’t even eat bologna.
But if you love New York bagels as much as I do, or, if you’ve never had one and travelling all the way to New York to taste one is impractical, then read on. I promise that if you follow the recipe below, and the method, you will create artisan bagels rivaling those found at the best bagel shops in Manhattan.
You see, I was raised on Long Island. My stepfather, born in 1930, was a Brooklyn Jew raised at the epicenter of the Jewish baking world of the 1930’s and ‘40’s. Those years were the golden age of Jewish bakeries and delicatessen’s in NYC. It thrived from the mid to late-twentieth century. His father was born about 1895 and emigrated to the United States from Poland, learned the baking trade, and handed it down to his sons. Having a trade to fall back on in those days was considered not only important, but mandatory.
The recipe below is a combination of family tradition, what I’ve gleaned from artisan bakers, and my own tweaking over the years. Here’s a hint before you begin. No shortcuts, and no substitutes with bagels. You don’t boil? You bomb out. You don’t proof the bagels overnight? Ditto. You substitute All Purpose Flour for High Gluten? Close, but no cigar. The point is, baking is where science meets metaphysics. You have to trust the recipe and the method. You cheat, you pay.
Above you will find seven things that you may not have in your kitchen. The diastatic malt powder, and barley malt syrup are crucial. You can get by w/o the baking stone, the bagel boards, scale and thermometer. Quality cookie sheets with parchment paper work alright. You can approximate temperature of water. Measuring by volume is a tough one. If you don't have a scale, get one, they're cheap. Break down and use some of the Steemit money you're hoarding.
There's a link at the end of this recipe to an outfit in NYC that has everything you need for making artisan bagels. No, I am not affiliated in any way.
So Steemit friends…. have at it, and enjoy, but remember, they’re best eaten warm, with a schmear of cream cheese.

Bagel Ingredients
Biga (sponge)
1 teaspoon yeast
4 cups (540g) unbleached high-gluten flour
2 1/2 cups water @ 100° to 120°
1 tbl. barley malt syrup or honey

Dough
1/2 teaspoon yeast
3 cups (405g) unbleached high gluten flour
1/2 cup (65g) unbleached high gluten flour
2 3/4 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons diastatic malt powder

Poaching Water
water approx. 4" deep in large pot
1 tbl. baking soda
1 tbl. barley malt syrup

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Make the Biga (I know, it’s Italian, not Yiddish) - Put 540 grains of High Gluten flour into a large mixing bowl. Dry stir the yeast into the flour. Bring tap water to about 120°. Add 1 tbl. barley malt syrup or honey (yeast likes sugar) to 2-1/2 cups water and stir until dissolved. Add to flour at about 110° to 115° stirring only until it forms a smooth, sticky batter. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave it at room temperature, or a nice warm spot in your home, for about 2 hours.

Biga before 2 hrs.

Biga after 2 hrs.
While waiting for the biga to do its thing, measure out 405 grains of flour into a bowl. Add the diastatic malt powder. Put salt in separate small bowl to add later.

When the biga is done you can dry mix the salt into the flour/malt powder bowl. Transfer the biga/sponge to a Kitchen Aid type mixing bowl. Add the ½ tsp. of yeast to biga and mix in with hook. Then slowly add remaining flour mixture until gone. Total mixing time should be about 5 minutes.

Kneading:Transfer dough to floured work surface and (get that 60 grains of flour you set aside) slowly knead in remaining flour. If the dough seems too dry and rips, add a few drops of water and continue kneading. If the dough seems tacky or sticky, add more flour to achieve the stiffness required. The kneaded dough should feel satiny and pliable but not tacky. Bagel dough is pretty tough. You really can’t over knead it. I knead for 10 – 15 minutes.
Now you can weigh the dough ball. It should be about 54 ounces - divided by 12 will yield a dozen 4.5 ounce bagels, just like the pros make. Weigh them out and form them into rolls. Cover the rolls with a damp towel and allow them to rest for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes it's time to form the bagels: Roll the dough into a rope about 8” long. Wrap the rope of dough around your hand, overlapping the ends a couple inches. Press the overlapping ends on the counter with the palm of your hand, rolling back and forth to form a seal.

Place each of the shaped bagels on a cookie sheet. Cover with damp towel. Let them rest for another 20 minutes.
I know, tedious right? The end result is worth it. No shortcuts.

Float Test: Now place a bagel in a bowl of water a few inches deep. It should float. But in case you have a sinking bagel, let them proof at room temperature a little longer until they float.

Proofing: Cover large cutting board or cookie sheet with plastic wrap (below). Place bagels on board. Put entire board, w/bagels, inside a plastic (kitchen trash bag) bag. Place in refrigerator overnight.

Next Day

Make sure baking stone is on center rack of oven. Preheat oven to 500° at least 30 minutes before starting water. You want a hot oven and baking stone. Next, soak the bagel boards. Keeps them from burning.

Once oven has reached 500° you can start the water. Add the baking soda to cold water and the barley malt syrup once it has heated a bit so it comes off the spoon easier; it’s sticky stuff. Bring to a boil.


Remove bagels from refrigerator (below) while water is heating. Once water is boiling proceed to poaching.

Poach bagels for 1 minute per side. Top the bagels as soon as they come out of the water and place them topping-side down on the moistened bagel boards.

Topping bagels is the fun part. I sprinkle topping on. Some people put the wet bagel face down in a bowl of topping. That technique puts way too much topping on a bagel. You have more control with your fingers, or from a used spice container w/ holes.

Above photo shows bagels on the boards, topping side down, ready to go into the oven.

When all the bagels have been boiled, topped, and placed on boards, carefully place them in the hot oven (on the baking stone if you have one) for 4 minutes. After 4 minutes flip the bagels off the boards onto the baking stone right side up. It helps to remove one board from the oven momentarily in order to make room for the flipping maneuver. Once bagels have been flipped onto the stone, close the oven door and bake for another 14 minutes.

Below you can see the bagels on the boards before being flipped onto the stone.

The blurry picture above shows bagels being flipped from the board onto the baking stone. The 500° blast explains the poor picture. Wear an oven glove.

After 14 minutes the bagels should be browned to desired color and texture. A slightly blistered surface is desirable. Remove to rack and cool. I use a thin metal pizza peel (below) to remove the bagels from the stone.

Above you can see, fresh out of the oven, Sesame bagels up front, Poppy-Seed bagels in center, and the Everything bagels in back. Perfection!! A schmear of cream cheese on a warm bagel, and a cup of fresh roast coffee, your family and friends will love it.

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Some Tips
• Five essential tools to making professional, artisan bagels at home. A baking stone, bagel boards, bakers bench knife, digital scale, digital cooking thermometer. This is the place to go right here: http://nybakers.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=8
• Three essential ingredients in making artisan bagels. Number one is High Gluten flour. It’s hard to find it locally in many areas. I found a 50-lb. bag reasonably priced on Amazon. Number two is Diastatic Malt Powder. And number three is Barley Malt Syrup for the poaching water.
• Measuring: I abandoned measuring flour by volume long ago. It is too imprecise for good results. Using a digital scale and measuring in grains makes all the difference. If you have a kitchen scale forget the cups and use the grains. Temperature of water is best between 100° and 115°. Too warm is no good for yeast, nor too cold, you want it just right. And weigh your bagels. I measure the weight of the entire dough ball and divide by twelve, usually yielding a dozen bagels (3 per bagel board) at about 4.5 ounces each.
• Toppings: I make Plain Bagels with no topping, Sesame Bagels, Poppy Seed Bagels, and the famous Everything Bagel, with poppy seeds, sesame seeds, onion flakes, garlic flakes, and coarse Kosher salt. Proportions of each is a matter of preference.
• The Biga (sponge) method is optional. Mixing all the ingredients together and kneading into a dough ball, then letting it rest for 20 minutes, then forming the bagels, another 20-minute rest, and then proofing overnight, is an equally authentic method, and faster.

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If you like Bagels, or if you don't like Bagels for that matter, if you enjoyed this recipe/tutorial at all, please, - Upvote and/or Resteem it - this recipe is gold and deserves the traction. Thanks!!