Sourdough bagels!

Wow!

An installment in the series "I didn't bother writing down what I did because I didn't expect much on the first try, but then the results turned out fantastic and I wished I had the recipe."

I think maybe bagels are ideal for sourdough, because sourdough breads tend to be denser and chewier, exactly what you're looking for in a good bagel.  It turns out that sourdough bagels may also be a more convenient choice for breakfasts, because you must shape them the night before.   Most recipes for yeasted bagels, on the other hand, call for shaping the bagels just after the first rise and only a few minutes before boiling; this works fine if you have a bread machine, of course (here's my recipe) but still the shaping step might add just a bit too much complexity to a typical weekday morning.

I went to this website for advice on the technique, and adapted the recipe in ways that seemed sensible given that I had a bread machine, a whole cup of starter, and a little bit of experience.  The website stressed high-protein flour, so I decided to use some bread flour rather than making 100% whole wheat bagels this time, and add some gluten to be safe.  I had just refreshed my starter and that evening, after pulling off some for the fridge and some for the next loaf of sandwich bread, I had a bit more than a cup left.

(Finally caught a clue and started refreshing the starter in a Pyrex 4-cup measure so I can see how much I have.)

(When I started doing that, I noticed something that should have been obvious:  Refreshed sourdough varies widely in density, a possible source in variation in my results considering that I typically measure by volume.)

I scraped most of the starter into my bread machine pan -- about a cup, as I said, of fairly bubbly starter -- and added one cup of bread flour and one cup of whole wheat flour.  I added about a tablespoon of gluten, three tablespoons of sugar, a teaspoon and a half of salt, and a teaspoon of olive oil.  I was shooting for a "standard" bagel so didn't mess with honey or molasses or any other kind of flavoring.  I decided not to add any water at this point, figuring to err on the side of stiffness.  I put that in the bread machine and set it to produce dough, and then stuck around.

Yes, I'm aware that next time I should be weighing all these ingredients.  I really thought this would just be the "let's see what happens" bagel recipe.

The machine labored and when I took a look inside during the knead cycle, it was obvious that water was required.  I'm sorry to say that I just splashed some in.  I guess it was about two or three tablespoons.  When I came back the dough looked all right, denser than bread dough like it's supposed to, so I left it alone after that.  I suppose if you mixed and kneaded by hand or in a stand mixer you would be able to adjust the hydration as you went; in any case, read some descriptions of what bagel dough is supposed to be like so you can make the necessary adjustments.   

I stopped the machine after the first rise but before it could knead the dough down again, and turned the dough out.  I knew at that moment I had something that could very well be successful, because the dough was firm and elastic and not at all sticky; I didn't even have to flour my board.  I cut it into 7 pieces and shaped it into bagels by the "rope" method.  I had to work pretty hard to seal the ends because the dough was so un-sticky, and ended by dipping them in water and really squishing and kneading them together.

I put a sheet of baking parchment on a baking sheet, sprayed the parchment lightly with cooking spray, arranged the bagels on the parchment, lightly sprayed the bagels, and covered them with plastic wrap to keep them from drying out.  Then I left the bagels at room temperature overnight.  The thermostat was at 71F, and I just found it really hard to believe that they would rise enough in the fridge.  But I didn't want to warm them because the rise would be about 8 hours.

In the morning they didn't seem to have changed much, which I figured meant I had made the right decision.  I preheated the oven to 500 F and put a heavy pan on the bottom rack; meanwhile I set a pot to boil.  Then I took a shower and got dressed.  When I came down the water was boiling and the oven was preheated.  I added 2 T of sugar to the water, because the sourdough website suggested it -- I have no idea what it's supposed to accomplish -- and boiled the bagels in two batches.  They sank at first and floated within a minute just as they were supposed to. I floated them in the boiling water for 1 minute on each side and then transferred them to a lightly sprayed baking sheet.  When they were all on the sheet I put them in the oven on the center rack, and poured a half cup of water in the hot pan on the bottom to create steam.

They baked 15 minutes, by which time they were starting to brown, and then I transferred them to a wire rack to cool.

Beautiful, just beautiful, with a crisp exterior made even more lovely by toasting, and a chewy middle.  I don't know if you would be satisfied with them if, say, you were a native New Yorker, but they were miles ahead of grocery store bagels and in the same league, I think, with wheat bagels from a chain like Bruegger's.   (Not quite as pleasurable as a fresh-baked bakery salt bagel, uncontaminated with whole wheat flour, would be, but whaddayagonnado.)  I am resisting the urge to go eat another one just so I can tell you more details about it.  There is a nice tang from the sourdough, and it's really hard to believe there's no yeast in these.

I'm not promising perfect results the first time if you do what I did -- my measuring was really vague here, and as I noted, sourdough starter is fickle stuff -- but be willing to try it, and to experiment and tweak.  The fact that you can do all but a few minutes' work the night before is a strong plus with this recipe and method.  I will definitely try to repeat this the next time I refresh sourdough, and when I do I'll keep better records.

UPDATE:  In this post I repeat the recipe with careful measurements.

Comments

[Cathie B]

OMG, those are beautiful!!! I want to eat the screen beautiful. Nice work, nice commentary and delightful picture. If only I had smellavision.

[Kelly]

So jealous of these!

[Valerie]

They look lovely! Before kids I tried making bagels once...but they were more like little whole wheat hockey pucks. :-) I'm inspired by your post to give it another try. Now, to just carve out some time.