Bagels - BWJ

By norsegal8

Like croissants, bagels have transcended their origins to become all-American. These are chubby bagels - boiled, then baked - with a cakey, open sponge; they are not heavy, stretchy or chewy. They are made with high-gluten flour, the type your local pizza maker uses. You can order the flour by mail.
Keep in mind that you can top your bagels with anything - one of the joys of making bagels at home - and you can bottom them too. Sprinkle the peel or baking sheet with any or all of your favorite toppings for around-the-bagel flavor.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons (approximately) unsalted butter, melted
• 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 2 1/4 cups tepid water (80°F to 90°F)
• 2 tablespoons (approximately) sugar
• 3 tablespoons solid vegetable shortening
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 to 2 teaspoons black pepper
• 6 cups (approximately) high-gluten flour

Preparation

Step 1

Brush the inside of a large (about 8-quart) bowl with some of the melted butter; set aside. Reserve the remaining melted butter for the top of the dough.

MIXING AND KNEADING Whisk the yeast into ¼ cup of the tepid water. Add a pinch of sugar and let the mixture rest until the yeast has been dissolved and is creamy.
Pour the remaining 2 cups of water into a large bowl and add the shortening. Add the yeast mixture along with 2 tablespoons sugar, the salt, the black pepper and stir with a wooden spoon to mix.
Stirring vigorously with the wooden spoon, add the flour, ½ cup at a time, stopping when you have a soft, sticky dough that is difficult to stir. (You will probably use almost 6 cups of flour, but the dough will be soft and sticky – and that’s just the way it is supposed to be.) Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead for 5 to 6 minutes, until it is smooth and elastic. Add additional flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking to your hands and the work surface.
To make the dough in a mixer, proof the yeast in ¼ cup of the warm water in the mixer’s bowl. Fit the machine with the dough hook and add the remaining 2 cups water, the sugar, shortening, salt and pepper; mix on low to blend. With the machine still on low, gradually add 5 ½ to 6 cups of the flour, mixing for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the ingredients are blended. Increase the mixer speed to medium and knead for about 6 minutes, adding additional flour by the tablespoon until the dough is smooth and elastic. At this point, the dough may still be slightly sticky and it may not clean the sides and bottom of the bowl completely – that’s OK.

RISE Form the dough into a ball and transfer it to the buttered bowl. Brush the top of the dough with the melted butter, cover the bowl with buttered plastic wrap, and top with a kitchen towel. Let the dough rise at room temperature for about 1 hour, or until it doubles in bulk.

CHILLING THE DOUGH Deflate the dough, cover as before, and refrigerate for 4 hours, or overnight. At this point the dough can be well wrapped and refrigerated for up to 2 days.
When you are ready to make the bagels, position an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 500°F. If the bagels are to bake on a stone, preheat the baking stone too and generously dust a peel with cornmeal. If they will bake on baking sheets, brush the sheets with vegetable oil (or spray them) and dust them with cornmeal. For added flavor, use one or all of the suggested topping ingredients in combination with the cornmeal to dust the peel or sheets. Put a heavy skillet on the floor of the oven and preheat it as well.
While the oven preheats, fill a stockpot with water and bring the water to a rapid boil.
Line 2 baking sheets or trays with kitchen towels. Rub flour into one of the towels and place both sheets close to your work surface.

SHAPING THE DOUGH Deflate the dough and transfer it to a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough in half; cover and chill one piece of the dough while you work with the other. Cut the dough into 5 equal pieces; work with one piece of dough at a time and cover the remaining places with a towel.
To form a bagel and develop the gluten cloak that will give it its structure, draw up the dough from the bottom, stretch it, and pinch it at the top. Keep pulling the dough up and pinching it until you have a perfectly round, tightly packed ball of dough with a little topknot or pleat at the top. Turn the dough over so that the knot is against the work surface and plunge your index finger in the center of the dough. Wiggle your finger around the hole to stretch it, then lift the bagel, hook it over the thumb of one hand and index finger of the other hand, and start rotating the dough, circling your thumb and finger, elongating the hole to a diameter of 2 to 2 ½ inches. (At this point the dough will look more like a piece in a ringtoss game than a bagel, but it will soon boil to bagelhood.) Put the bagel on the baking sheet with the floured towel, and cover with another towel. Shape the remaining 4 pieces of dough into bagels. (You will shape the refrigerated dough once you are done boiling and baking these bagels.)

THE WATER BATH
¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
Add the sugar and the baking soda to the boiling water. With a large slotted skimmer, or slotted spatula, lower the bagels, one at a time, into the boiling water. Don’t crowd them – the bagels should swim around in the water without touching one another; it’s better to boil them in batches than to cram them into the pot all at one time. The bagels will sink to the bottom of the pot when you put them in, then rise to the top. Once the bagels have surfaced, boil for 1 ½ to 2 minutes on each side, flipping them over gently with the skimmer. Remove the bagels, shaking the skimmer over the stockpot to get rid of some of the excess water, and put them on the baking sheet with the unfloured towel, keeping the smoothest side of the bagel up. Do not discard the boiling water.

GLAZE AND TOPPINGS
2 large egg whites
1 teaspoon cold water
Sesame, poppy and/or caraway seeds; kosher or sea salt; minced onions sautéed in vegetable oil; and/or dried garlic chips or dehydrated onions softened in hot water (optional)

Whisk the egg whites and cold water together until the whites are broken up, then push the glaze through a sieve and brush each bagel with the glaze. Try not to let the glaze drop down onto the baking sheet or peel, or it will glue down the bagels. Don’t worry if the bagels look wrinkled – they’ll smooth out in the oven. Brush with another coat of glaze, and if you’re using a topping, or more than one, sprinkle it evenly over the bagels now.

BAKING THE BAGELS Put 4 ice cubes in a 1-pint measuring cup and add ¼ cup cold water. Put the bagels into the oven and immediately toss the cubes and water into the hot pan. Quickly close the door to capture the steam produced by the ice, turn the oven temperature down to 450°F, and bake the bagels for 25 minutes. Turn off the oven and let the bagels sit in the oven for 5 more minutes. Open the oven door and leave the bagels in the oven for another 5 minutes. Transfer the bagels to a rack and cool. If you’ve used a baking stone, sweep the excess cornmeal from the stone. Before baking the next batch, be sure to bring the oven temperature back to 500°F.
While the first batch of bagels is baking, cut and shape the remaining dough. Boil, glaze and bake those bagels just like you did the first batch.