Bagels.

It's been a while since I talked about bagels. Since they are one of the staples of my baking routine even throughout the summer---which is a sure sign that they are something we must have on hand at any cost---I'm surprised at how little, or at least how unsystematically, I have discussed them here on my little corner of cyberspace. (Hah, flashback to 1999...)

Yesterday, per M's request, I gave the egg bagel concept another shot, and I baked them this morning. He had to leave before they were done, but I had the luxury of breakfasting on a fresh one. I used 3 whole eggs this time, cutting back the water to 6 oz (from 9) because irrationally I couldn't believe eggs really counted as that much liquid, but it was indeed too much. I had to add 3-4 Tbsp of extra flour to get the dough to the usual stiffness, and as I was shaping them I thought they weren't overly tacky, but the dough felt too soft. Last time, when I used all yolks, this yielded fragile bagels that were majorly lacking in chewiness. Nevertheless this time, though you can see below that the color is definitely not the bright yellow that some shops' egg bagels have, they maintained a proper chewiness and did not threaten to fall apart as I sliced them. They taste great. My next modification will be to add a couple of yolks to the 3 eggs and start out adding less water.

Note the impressive uniformity. Ha, ha.

Usually I double the basic bagel recipe (fully copied out here) in Peter Reinhart's Artisan Bread Everyday. This differs from his previous version in that it does not require a sponge, but only a pre-mixed (and pre-formed) dough that spends the night in the fridge and comes out in the morning for a baking soda bath. Sounds like a fun little slumber party or something. Except then they get baked in a very hot oven and eaten in short order. Actually I have to prep and package them all for storage in the freezer---by far the only aspect of bagel-making that approaches tedium. Okay, sometimes it is downright tedious. But homemade bagels are not under any circumstances to be left out for more than six hours (in a tightly closed paper bag). I defiantly tested that rule once, and I'm just glad I still have all my teeth intact. For future use, it's best to slice each bagel as soon as it's cooled, wrap each half in plastic wrap or foil, and place the halves together in a large plastic freezer bag. I can't tell any difference between a bagel that's been out of the oven for half an hour or one that has been in the freezer (packed carefully) for two weeks, and toasted to order. So this is a pretty satisfactory system.

A note about doubling this recipe: it's a non-negotiable for me because the boiling and baking operation is something I'd rather do less often if I have the chance, and my fridge pretty easily fits the two large baking sheets needed for the double batch. However, I have a powerhouse of a Kitchenaid mixer (thanks Mom and Dad!) and even it struggled when I tried combining the two batches of stiff dough. I found the best and least inconvenient way to double the recipe is to mix each batch separately. Prep the water, yeast, etc. while the first batch is being mixed. Then while that dough is resting to hydrate the flour, mix the second batch. And it works out pretty well so that when the first batch is ready for its second mixing, the second batch is resting.  Then when they're both mixed and ready for the rise, I briefly knead them together to form one ball. That's not strictly necessary; you could just let them rise in two separate bowls. But that would be one more bowl to clean, which does not tempt me.

More random notes:

• I use the barley malt syrup. Yes it is $6.50 a jar at Whole Foods (that's expensive for me, to be clear), but it lasts a while and is worth the subtle complexity it provides. I am not a supertaster or anything like it, so if I can notice the difference, you will too. For the poaching liquid I do usually omit the malt syrup because I don't notice a huge increase in flavor by adding it there. 
• I use table salt and Pillsbury or Gold Medal bread flour---nothing special. 
• After trying both, my preferred shaping method is to poke a hole in the dough ball and then stretch it. (He notes that the other method, creating a rope which you join together at the ends, is the one preferred by professional bagel makers. Like this crazy guy.) 
• As far as toppings, the egg white wash as they come out of the bath is not optional: you will still lose a few seeds here and there as they get sliced later, but nowhere near the amount that come off if you skip the egg white. I do half poppy seeds (M's preference), half sesame seeds (my preference). I've tried the cinnamon raisin bagels and they were fine but the raisins tend to fall out in significant numbers when you are shaping, and I found that annoying. 
• I get obsessive about measuring out each dough ball to equal somewhere between 3 3/4 and 4 1/4 oz, but I let it go if one or two weigh in at 4 3/8 oz. For those mornings when we wake up ravenous. Right. These make a very reasonably sized bagel. None of this monster-sized nonsense where you're eating a cup of flour for breakfast.

So that's my little bagel review. They're really worth a try. As someone who is absolutely "below average," let's say, when it comes to shaping any kind of dough, yes it takes a little practice to get the bagels to look halfway decent. And I'm still not consistent with that yet (see photos above). But less than perfect shaping is not going to destroy your bagels. Follow the directions, and they will come out well.
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More rye news: I just found this deli rye bread recipe from Rose Levy Beranbaum, helpfully streamlined at Smitten Kitchen, that uses whole grain rye flour (she doesn't specify in the recipe, but I skimmed through the comments and found that she used whole grain Arrowhead Mills like I have). So my plan is now to try this recipe before attempting to tweak the previously used CI one.

I must here repeat my plea that some tech geek out there invent a comment system for use on cooking blogs  that automatically categorizes and highlights comments from people who have actually made the recipe in question, so that one can more easily skim past all the "oh that looks deliiiish gurl" remarks. It could be color-coded for questions, useless flattering remarks (sorry, but especially on "celebrity" food blogs, why do people think the famous blogger, who has to weed through all these comments, needs their anonymous affirmation?), and helpful feedback/review-type comments that some of us really want to find sometimes. Sorry, I'm cranky and I think it's time for morning snack #1. (Just about 3 1/2 months to go, and then I will have to return to a normal person diet---it's nothing short of mysterious that I have not ballooned grotesquely. I guess the baby really is helping absorb the effects of all this snacking.)