What's fun about working with natural yeast is that I can throw together anything and just play around.So I just watched a couple of videos on bagels, and made 4 bagels of my own.The photos are from my phone, so they're not very clear.

The bagels came out just the way I wanted them. I've never been to NYC, or even to a real DELI, so I had nothing to "work with" in terms of achieving an example. These were tasty, chewy, and crispy.

It's spongy on the inside, incredibly crisp on the outside, chewy, but not too chewy. The very best thing about this is that it is not dry at all, but moist.

A pinch of homemade yeast
Sprinkle store yeast
AP flour
Wheat gluten
Water

Next day: salt, molasses, flour. Knead and rise. Shape and rise. Boil in Chinese alkali water. Bake in toaster oven on "high". Crazy...