The Fresh Loaf

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Problem with Bagel Dough

ellanichols74's picture
ellanichols74

Problem with Bagel Dough

I'm not very experienced at  bread making, but I have successfully made Focaccia, Ciabatta, and regular white bread, and I wanted to try to make bagels. I don't have a mixer but I didn't think that would be a problem because I watched a video where they didn't use a mixer and they turned out good. I ended up using this recipe , and after reading the comments I decided to add an extra 1/4 a cup of water and to let it rise overnight. The problem though, is that I don't think I kneaded it enough before letting it proof because it didn't pass the window pane test and it wasn't very elastic at all. It's already been proofing for over an hour and doubled in size. Is there anything I can do about it now and is it even worth moving forward with this dough? Or should I just start over?  Another thing that might be worth mentioning is that I only had one packet of instant yeast so I don't think I added the full tablespoon like the recipe calls for. 

Any help and feedback will be much appreciated! :) 

sunkool's picture
sunkool

Your hands would fall off kneading bagels by hand. Bagels require extreme gluten development. You could try kneading for 10 minutes, then retard the bulk dough for the night before shaping.