Hi everyone, this is my first thread. Sorry if what I am about to ask has been answered in other threads on this board. Please direct me there if that is the case.
Before I begin, here is my most recent recipe:
583.5 g flour
337.5 g water
14.5 g salt
26.8 g sugar
1 package of yeast
Mix together (by hand), rise one hour, form into rings, retard in fridge 6-8 hours,
The quick back story is that a few weeks ago I bought my first scale. After doing some math, I realized the recipe I had been working from had an unusually high hydration and that I could probably get denser bread if I used less water. (http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/03/how-to-make-homemade-bagels-a-la-jo-goldenberg-recipe.html). I read a bunch of recipes online, and then made mine.
My issue is that after shaping, my bagels over-proof really rapidly. I've made a few batches of bagels in the last few days, all of which I have thrown out because of the same basic issue. After forming into rings (using the rope method), I place the bagels on a piece of parchment paper, cover them with either a tea towel or plastic wrap, and place them in the fridge. Last night the bagels were flat after only on hour. Even when I was shaping, the ones rolled first had bubbles floating to the surface after only a few minutes.
I have a few theories for what may be causing this.
1: Heat and humidity. I live in NY and it is summer. Things are hot and sticky, which may be making my dough take on more water as it forms.
2: Shaping method. I used to make all my bagels by first rolling them into balls, then ropes, then rings. I found that when doing this, overproofing happened far less frequently. I now form rings by doing a very slow version of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qri4OaNr-E0
tldr: My bagels are overproofing after only an hour and I can't tell if it's because of the rolling method or the weather.
half of the yeast in the recipe or cutting it back to a teaspoon? Or what about using ice water when mixing the dough? Or chilling the flour?
At 58% hydration, they may be still too wet. Chill your hands in cool water before handling the dough... um um and what about using chilled towels to cover the dough while working?
I did try the ice water and after two hours I got a very modest rise. But then, after retarding, the bagels were still overproven. I'm guessing my shaping technique might be creating more friction than I realize.
I would start with 53% hydration instead of 58% first thing and then cut the yeast dramatically by at least a half if you are going for an overnight retard.
Watch the dough and not the clock. When you shape the bagels hold back a small ball of dough that you shape and put it with the bagels in the fridge. When it looks like it has risen 70% put it in a glass of water and see it it will float. If it does, the bagels are ready to be boiled and baked .
Also make sure you are using high gluten flour. Yiu have a lot of sugar in there too that doesn't help one bit, get rid of it and put 15 g of Barley Malt Syrup in its place. Then you will halve a more traditional and reasonable recipe for a retarded bagel
Your original recipe would work with a 30-40 minute proof then boil and bake right away.
Happy bagel naking
I'm using KA bread flour, which is pretty high gluten, but not as high as Sir Lancelot.
To your point about the sugar: Until I can get the malt barley syrup, how much sugar would be appropriate?
down with less hydration is way more important if you want to retard the dough for a long time. You will still have to play with the proof time in the fridge since it will still be very fast using commercial yeast and may not get to 8 hours - watch the dough. Eventually you will figure put how much yeast to use to get the length of time you want in the fridge. If it doesn't work out just reshape and reproof them on the counter till they hit 70% proof.
I bulk proof overnight, shape in the morning and they're almost immediately ready to go into the water.