Bagels  Ingredients:       2 cups  warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)    1/2 (.25 ounce) package  active dry yeast       2 tablespoons  white sugar    1 tablespoon  vegetable oil       7 cups  bread flour    1 tablespoon  salt       1 tablespoon  white sugar    3 tablespoons  poppy seeds (optional)

Preparation:

1. In large bowl, sprinkle yeast over warm water to soften; stir to dissolve. Add 2 tablespoons sugar, oil, 6 cups of flour, and salt. Mix thoroughly until the dough forms up and leaves the sides of the bowl. Turn dough out on floured board and knead, adding small amounts of flour as necessary. Bagel dough should be pretty stiff. Work in as much extra flour as you can comfortably knead. Knead until smooth and elastic, 12-15 minutes. 2. Roll the dough into a ball, place it in a large oiled bowl, and turn to coat. Cover and let fully rise until an impression made with your finger remains and does not sink into the dough (about an hour). 3. Punch down and cut into thirds, and roll each piece between your palms into a rope. Cut each rope into 4 equal pieces and shape into balls. Roll the first ball into another rope that is about 2" longer than the width of your hand. Make a ring with the dough, overlapping ends about 1/2" and sealing the ends by rolling with your palm on the board. If the dough resists rolling, dab on a drop of water with your finger. Evenly place the bagels on 2 nonstick baking pans or very lightly oiled baking sheets. Cover and let stand until puffy, about 20 minutes. 4. While bagels are proofing, fill a 4 quart saucepan 2/3 full with cold water; add 1 tablespoon sugar and bring to a boil. When ready to cook, drop 2 or 3 bagels at a time into the boiling water and wait until they rise to the top. Cook for a total of 1 minute, turning once. 5. Carefully lift each bagel out with a slotted spoon or skimmer. Drain momentarily. Turn into a dish with topping, if desired. Evenly space bagels on 2 nonstick baking pans or very lightly oiled baking sheets. 6. Bake with steam in a preheated 500 degree F (260 degrees C) oven until well-browned, about 20 minutes. Turn bagels over when the tops begin to brown, and continue baking until done. HINTS ON DOUGH PREPARATION: 1. Once the dough has risen once, divide it into 12 equal pieces and form them into dough rounds. Cover the rounds with a damp cloth and allow them to rest for 5 to 10 minutes for easier shaping. Meanwhile, bring 3 to 4 quarts of water to boil in a large stockpot, preheat your oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C) and lightly oil two baking sheets. 2. Lightly coat your hands with vegetable oil and gently press a dough round down with the palm of your hand. Find the center of the round and push a finger through to make a hole. 3. Swing the bagel around your finger to widen the hole. Be gentle; the goal is to widen the hole without ripping the walls of the bagel. The walls should be approximately 1-inch thick and the hole 2 inches wide. Don't worry if the hole seems too large: it will close up quite a bit as the bagel boils and bakes. After each bagel is shaped, place it back underneath the moist towel. 4. Bagels are boiled in water before baking to gelatinize the starch in the outer layer of dough, giving the bagels their characteristic chewy crust. Some bakers add malt syrup (available at health food stores and specialty grocers) to the water to enhance the bagel's flavor. We used fresh boiling water with no added flavoring. Carefully drop the bagels, two or three at a time--depending upon the size of your pot--into the boiling water. Don't crowd the bagels in the pot; this will cause the water to cool down and the bagels to stick together. 5. Boil the bagels until they have expanded in size and underside appears cooked (1 to 2 minutes); turn them with a slotted spoon or spatula. Let them boil for another minute or two, until both sides are evenly cooked. 6. Remove each bagel from the boiling water; the bagels will have puffed up and the centers will be nearly closed. They will be off-white in color and have some blisters just below the surface. Drop each bagel into a bowl of cold water to cool. 7. If you wish to top your bagels, arrange toppings--poppy seeds, sesame seeds, dehydrated onion--on plates. Remove bagels from the cold water bath and dip the top and sides in the seeds. Arrange the seeded bagels on the oiled baking sheet. 8. With strongly flavored toppings, such as Kosher salt, garlic, caraway, or fennel seeds, sprinkle on the toppings rather than dipping the bagels to coat completely. 9. Bake the bagels in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. After 10 minutes, check the bagels and loosen them from the baking sheet if they are sticking. Once they are done, place them on a rack to cool. 10. Practice your bagel-making skills by trying a variety of flavors. The shaped rings of raw dough can be frozen and kept for up to three weeks. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, bringing to room temperature before boiling. Bake as directed. HINTS ON FORMING DOUGH: 1. Forming dough properly accomplishes two things: •It stretches the thin sheet of gluten on the outside of the round to form an attractive spherical shape for the loaf or rolls. •It tightens the gluten strands within the dough. Loaves that lack this structure will be dense and heavy rather than light and airy. The goal of this method is to form a very tight, smooth, and round ball. 2. We are using dough made from the recipe for Bagels II, the dough has already risen once. The size the dough must be portioned into varies from one recipe to another, so be sure to double-check the recipe you are following to ensure you portion the dough correctly. The recipe we are following calls for the portion size to be 5 ounces. This forming method can apply to dough weighing from 1 ounce to 1 pound. 3. Take two ends of the dough and fold them into the middle; repeat 2 or 3 times. In essence, you are turning the dough inside out. The dough will be noticeably tighter. 4. One side of the dough will be perfectly smooth (except for a possible small carbon dioxide blister, which is good), the other side will look like a seam of dough closing in on itself. Place the ball seam-side down on the work surface. With the palm of your hand against the smooth side of the dough, move the ball around in circles on the work surface. Keep as little flour as possible on the work surface, as some friction is required for the dough to stretch. The non-smooth end needs to be in constant contact with the work surface. Be careful not to use too much force and tear the outside of the round; too much pressure will weaken the structure of the dough. The act of moving your hands in circles will cause the seam to close and the smooth side to stretch, forming a perfect sphere. If another proofing needs to be done before baking, set the rounds down on a greased tray or the work surface before baking. 5. Another more complicated way to form dough rounds is to exert pressure with your palm when rolling. This extra pressure will make the dough even tighter but requires a lot of practice to avoid over-working the dough. Begin acclimating yourself to this process by rolling one of the balls with one hand the first couple of tries, then switch to the other hand a few rounds down the road. Study the rounds that you exerted extra pressure on and judge whether you have done a successful job. After both hands feel comfortable and you feel you are not exerting too much pressure on the dough, try rolling two rounds at once. 6. Once all of the dough pieces have been formed into rounds, set them on a floured or greased tray to be proofed once again. To keep them from drying out and forming a skin, cover the rounds with a slightly damp towel or plastic wrap.

Categories:  Baked Goods, Baked goods, Breakfast

Estimated Serving:  12

Estimated preparation time:  50 min.

Estimated calories serving:  323

Language:  English

Shared by:  Jilly    2009/12/01