Back in the day, my mother was a nurse in Miami, Florida. My dad would fly down there periodically for a visit and on his return trip, he'd sometimes bring me a couple dozen very good bagels. I remember one time in particular, he not quite understanding the allure of a well made bagel (or any other kind), and with his suitcase nearly full, he managed to flatten two dozen bagels to the point where they looked like frisbees. But we enjoyed them anyway.At that time, before the Internet and the plethora of exellect baking books available, I thought making a bagel at home was impossible. There must be some magic to it, or why wouldn't everyone do it?
Which brings us up to this morning. I had these bagels already formed and in the refrigerator for an overnight ferment. I took them out and put them on the kitchen table around 3 AM so they'd be at the right temperature for the boiling phase. And then I overslept.
I came downstairs to find the bagels were so overproofed, that I couldn't even pick them up. There was nothing else to do except roll it all back together again, divide, and reshape. By this time, I already had the water at full boil and the oven was up to temperature. I had no idea how these would come out, if at all.
This once again illustrates that even when you make a few mistakes (adding too much salt, not being one of them...), home baking results in a product that is very difficult to find at the grocery store. Here in Kansas City, and in many other large communities, it is quite possible to find a decent bagel. But even with the mistakes I made this morning, I really think these are better than anything around here.
The malt syrup used in this recipe is available at Whole Foods. I used a pretty standard hydration and the formulation and methods (well, sort of...) from Peter Reinhart's, Artisan Breads Every Day.
