Freezing Pretzels and Bagels after boiling

Hi,

We are wanting to sell a variety of products from our farm ingredients at a farmers market, starting with early-morning bagels and pretzels.

As we will already be getting up soon after midnight to also have time to feed the animals, throw the sleepy child in his carseat, drive 1 1/2 hours to the market, and set up by 7:30am, we want to minimise the amount of baking we do in the morning as well as the night before.

We have tried freezing bagels after the boiling stage, and then baking them on the day, and it seems to work if you fast-freeze them.  The question we have is the best way to defrost them.  Should they be defrosted somewhere warm first, or can they be put straight in the oven frozen?  

As a side-note, what is the purpose of proofing bagels overnight in the fridge before boiling - to build up the Lactic acid?  If we were to be making a sour-dough bagel anyway, do we need to be doing this?