Not egg related, high gluten flour makes great difference

SkinnyV

I may start baking these once I get an AR and can do 2 level on the egg. But for now sticking to indoor. I use a sourdough starter that's 4 months old in the fridge , add only salt , flour, and the starter.
But my bagels and self made everything topping worked out great today. Very happy!

HDumptyEsq

Oy vay. You should need some lox, vot? they look great.

Cookinbob

Those look awesome.  What is your recipe? 

Also did you do your own starter from scratch, or purchase one commercially?  details please!

SkinnyV

Hey I have 2 seperate starters going , one from the william & sonoma kit that is the container and starter, and another that was from the fesh loaf.com .

Both have been working great once I got them up and going. It took some practice but now they are thriving and ready to go when called upon.

Recipe for these bagels was simply a few cups of sponge ( this is starter and additional flour and water added and allowed to sit for a few hours or overnight). You can tell by the activity when the sponge is ready. I took about 3 cups of sponge and 3-4 cups of flour and salt. Mixed it in the KA and thats all she wrote.

Once my dough is  mixed I break up into little balls for the first rise (9) in this case. After the first rise I roll out and form into bagels ( see youtube clip) for the second rise. Once the second rise is done boil some water with baking soda and honey, cook for one minute each side. Dunk the top into everything mix and once they are all ready and boiled bake 11-12 minutes a side @ 425.

Not everything has to be exact. My dough is mostly by feel when adding flour to the sponge, it all gets better than practice. Like I mentioned above this was my first shot with Pendelton High Gluten flour and it makes a great difference. Now I need to get better at regular bread making and incorporate some wheat, oats etc.

Cookinbob

Sounds simple, but I bet it is not - you have a knack from the looks.  I have considered doing a starter, but the need for regular feeding seems like it will be beyond me with travel, etc.  It is nice to imagine though!