SD Rye Bagels: I cheated and it worked!

So this time after proofing the starter I built up the levain with a scant pint of YW I'd been brewing, got hold of some diastatic malt powder, threw in a pinch of VWG, a heaping helping of molasses, and boiled the bagels with syrup and salt.  Coated with egg wash thinned using only honey plus a bit more salt, topped with the seeds and of course, even more salt. Threw into my Romertopf Bagel Bakers pre-heated to 500°, brought the thermostat down to 450°, rotated at 15 minutes and baked 15 minutes longer at 400°. Okay next time I'll bring the temp down to 400° right away, don't need the crust quite so crackled, but boy did I finally get good oven spring and browning on those suckers, muh-wha-haha! Bagels might look kinda dry in the pic but are really very moist and flavorful; crusts glistened like caramel once I sealed them all in zip-locks. Pays not to follow directions sometimes, the instructions provided by Reco sure were a dud.