Sourdough Bagels

Sourdough Bagels are just a special bread loaf.   The following is a basic bagel but you can modify to add your favorite flavors.  There are many other bagel recipes on web, most don't use sourdough but you can easily convert to.  

Like all of my sourdough recipes, I like taking two days to make.  The recipe will make 6 bagels.   The recipe is similar to one a King Arthur Baking  I also referenced a view videos I found at  BreadTopia, great baking site with tools, recipes and techniques. 

Day One :

I like starting in the later afternoon or evening.  I like to let the dough rest a couple hours before putting in the refrigerator for an overnight rest.

• ~1/2 cup (100 g) fed sourdough starter (no worries if you put more in)
  
• 100 g room temp water
• 190 g bread flour (can be up to 50 g of whole wheat flour).  My go to bread flour is King Arthur Sir Lancelot - can only get in large sack.
  
• 2 tbls honey

To a container with a lid/cover (I like a dough bucket), add the starter, water and honey.  Mix together to break up the starter an dissolve honey in the water.  When mixed, add the flour and mix well (I like using a Dough Whisk)   Try to gather up all flour into the dough.   You can use your hands (wet them first) and do a squeeze kneading, like what you would do squeezing mud or playdough.   Just need to get the flour mixed in.

When the dough is combined, put the lid on and let sit at room temp for a few hours.  You want to see some fermentation action.   Before going to bed, put the container in the refrigerator.  

Day Two :

In the morning, take the container out of the refrigerator and let warm up on the counter for an hour.  Make sure to take the lid off which will help it warm quicker. 

• 100 g room temp water
• 190 g bread flour (can be up to 50 g of whole wheat flour)
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• optional ingredients  to add to the dough - diced chiles, cheese, raisins, onions.... 
• optional ingredients for topping - everything spice, dried chiles, ...
  

1. Once the dough has warmed, add the flour and water.  Mix well and use your hands (wet with water) squeeze the dough to knead.  Work to breakup the flour and clumps.    If you have a stand mixer with a dough hook, you can use it to mix and knead the dough.  If you are adding an extra ingredients to the dough, add them now and mix in well. 
   
2. Put the dough in a container and sprinkle the salt over.  Cover the dough and let rest for 45 to 60 mins. 
3. After the rest,  you will need to pull, stretch and fold the dough to build gluten and incorporate the salt.  Wet your hands will help with dough sticking to them.  Here is a video showing the technique.   I like pull more to almost the point the dough breaks.  Cover the dough. 
4. Repeat the rest  (45 to 60 mins) with pull, stretch a fold, one or two more times.   After the last time, let dough rest again.
   
5. Once the rest is complete, the dough should have expanded.  Now it is time to break the dough into equal balls to prep for shaping into bagels.   Split the dough into equal pieces and form into balls,  this video shows an example of breaking the dough into balls.    Place the balls on a cookie sheet or proof container which has been dusted with flour.  Let rest for 45 to 60 mins. 
6. After the rest, it is time to shape the dough balls into bagels.   Get a cookie sheet and generously cover it with cornmeal.  You can use flour but I like cornmeal since it is better at keeping the dough from sticking to the sheet.  Follow the above video to shape the bagels and place on the cookie sheet.  When done, dust the bagels with flour and cover with plastic or a kitchen towel.  
7. Let the bagels rest for 60 or so mins.  You want to see that they have expanded.  
8. Turn your oven on to 350 F.
   
9. Get a 3 qt or large pan and fill it with 1 to 2 qts of water.  Pan should be large with enough water to float a bagel.   Add 2 tbls baking soda and 2 tbls brown sugar or honey to water.   Bring the water to a boil.  
10. Get a cookie sheet or pizza peel, cover it with a piece a parchment paper large enough to hold the bagels.  After boiling each bagel, you will place them on the parchment paper.
    
11. With the water boiling, carefully place a bagel in the water.  IF THE BAGEL SINKS, then it needs more proofing time!!.  Let sit for 5 to 10 seconds then flip and repeat on other side.  I like to put the bagel in the water with the upside, from the cookie set, down in the water first.  When both sides have been boiled, move bagel to the parchment paper.  If you are topping the bagels, do it while the bagel is still wet.  Repeat until all bagels have been boiled.  Here is a video describing the process.
    
12. Put bagels in the preheated oven to 350F and bake for 20 to 30 mins.  Check with a thermometer to confirm the inside of the bagel is at least 190F.   

Variations 

Here are some variations you can try.

1. Combine Day one and two into one day then let the shaped bagels proof in the refrigerator overnight.  This works as long as you have a fed starter.   Next morning after resting in refrigerator, pull the bagels out and let rest for 60 to so mins to proof.  Continue with boil and baking.
2. Adjust the flour to water ratio, this recipe uses flour = 1.9 * water by weight in grams. .  This ratios is the basics for making a softer / poofier or denser dough.  The smaller ratio the softer or less dense the dough.   Note, a less dense dough will be more sticky in the beginning but with stretching the gluten will build and stickiness will reduce.   When forming the bagels you might need a bit of flour to help with stickiness but always make sure your hands are wet.  
3. Mixing ingredients in the dough is the best way to introduce flavors.  You can be aggressive on the quantity of ingredients and what you add.   If you want to make more than one flavor from a a dough, you will need to split the dough into pieces and add flavors to each piece.  Here a few ideas to mix in with your dough, these assume you are working the dough size made from this recipe
   

• Parmesan Cheese and garlic.  Mix 1 C grated Parmesan with 3 to 4 minced or pressed garlic cloves
• 'Chile and cheese.  Mix 1 C grated sharp cheddar (white or yellow) with 4 or so minced jalapenos, serranos,  habaneros, etc.  Optional, add 1 to 2 tsp ground or whole cumin
• Raisins and cinnamon.  Mix 1 C of raisins with 1 to 2 tsp cinnamon
• Onion and bacon.  Mix 1 C diced onions with 1/2 C cooking bacon crumbles.   I like not cooking the bacon to crispy. 
• Cheese.  Mix 1 to 2 C grated of your favorite cheese - Parmesan, mozzarella, cheddar, .. 
• Sundried tomates and olives.   Mix 1/2 C diced sundried tomates and 1/3 C diced olives.. 
• ???