Bagels
A stiff, low-hydration dough held overnight in the fridge, boiled in malted alkaline water and baked hot for a shiny, chewy skin.
- Prep
- 35m
- Cook
- 22m
- Waiting
- 13h 15m
- Total
- 14h 12m
- Serves
- 8 bagels
- Effort
- Moderate
Method
Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.
| 500 g | Knead the stiff dough hard for 10 minutes, then rest 1 hour 1h 10m It will fight you. That is the point of a 52 per cent hydration dough. | Shape into rings and retard uncovered overnight 12h 15m Poke a hole and stretch it to 4 cm. It closes by half in the oven. | Boil 45 seconds a side, lift out, and press into the seeds while wet 10m Longer boiling means a thicker, chewier skin and less oven rise. | Bake at 220°C / 425°F for 20 minutes until deep bronze 20m Turn the tray once. The far side of most ovens colours faster. | |
| 260 g | |||||
| 15 g | |||||
| 5 g | |||||
| 10 g | |||||
| 2 tbsp | |||||
| 1 tsp | |||||
| 4 tbsp | |||||
| for the tray | |||||
-
Knead the stiff dough hard for 10 minutes, then rest 1 hour
1h 10m- strong white bread flour 500 g
- water 260 g
- barley malt syrup 15 g
- instant yeast 5 g
- fine salt 10 g
It will fight you. That is the point of a 52 per cent hydration dough.
-
Shape into rings and retard uncovered overnight
12h 15m- from 1 Knead the stiff dough hard for 10 minutes, then rest 1 hour
Poke a hole and stretch it to 4 cm. It closes by half in the oven.
-
Boil 45 seconds a side, lift out, and press into the seeds while wet
10m- from 2 Shape into rings and retard uncovered overnight
- barley malt syrup 2 tbsp
- bicarbonate of soda 1 tsp
- sesame and poppy seeds 4 tbsp
Longer boiling means a thicker, chewier skin and less oven rise.
-
Bake at 220°C / 425°F for 20 minutes until deep bronze
20m- from 3 Boil 45 seconds a side, lift out, and press into the seeds while wet
- fine semolina (optional) for the tray
Turn the tray once. The far side of most ovens colours faster.
Why boiling changes everything
Thirty seconds in near-boiling water gelatinises the starch on the outside of the ring before the oven can dry it. That gel sets into the glossy, slightly leathery skin a bagel is judged on, and it also seals the surface so the loaf can only expand so far — hence the dense, chewy crumb rather than an open one. The alkaline water accelerates Maillard browning, and the malt syrup supplies sugars for it to work on.
Notes
- Retarding uncovered dries the surface slightly, which helps the skin set cleanly in the pot.
- Test one bagel by dropping it in cold water. If it floats within ten seconds it is proved enough.
- Boil in batches of two or three. Crowding drops the water temperature and the skins go slack.