This week's baking: march 26, 2017

Sourdough Bagels

(adapted from Hamelman's bagel formula in Bread)

David M. Snyder

March 23, 2017

Makes 13 113 g (4 oz) bagels.

1. Dissolve the levain in the water.

2. Add the flours and mix thoroughly.

3. Place in a clean container and ferment until ripe. 8-12 hours, depending on vigor of your starter and the ambient temperature – 76ºF is ideal. (For a liquid levain, this means the surface is bubbly and wrinkled. It should smell fruity, not like raw flour and not sour.)

4. If not ready to mix the final dough, the ripe levain can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Note: I fed the levain with my usual sourdough feeding mixture of 70% AP, 20% whole wheat and 10% rye. I keep a supply of this mix to use as needed. That is, I actually added 200 g of that mixture.

 Procedures

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, place the water, ripe liquid levain and malt syrup. Mix at low speed until these ingredients are well-blended.

2. In a separate clean bowl, combine the flours, salt and instant yeast. Add this mix to the liquid ingredients a third at a time, mixing each addition at low speed until well-blended before adding the next.

3. Mix at medium speed until an early gluten window forms (6-8 minutes).

4. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured board. Form into a ball and place in a lightly oiled clean bowl. Cover tightly and ferment at 76ºF for one hour. The dough should be almost doubled in volume.

5. Transfer the dough back to the board and divide into 113 g (4 oz) pieces.

6. Pre-shape into rounds and allow to rest, covered with a towel, for 20 minutes or so.

7. Form bagels from each piece. Degas gently. Form a tube, as if shaping a baguette. Roll each tube into a cylinder (not tapered) about 12 inches long. Wrap this around your open hand, with the ends overlapping under your palm by 2-3 inches. Roll your open hand back and forth on the board to seal the bagel. If it sticks, flour the board lightly. If it slides, wipe the board with a very slightly damp towel.

8. Place the bagels with at least an inch between them on parchment-lined baking sheets sprinkled with semolina or coarse cornmeal. Cover with plasti-crap or place in a food-safe plastic bag and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight. (I find quarter sheet pans most convenient. Each holds 6 bagels.)

9. Pre-heat the oven to 500ºF (with an optional baking stone in place).

10. In a large sauce pan (4 quart or larger), bring water to boil with 2 tablespoons of barley malt syrup.

11. Take as many bagels as you can bake at one time out of the fridge.

12. Boil the bagels right our of the fridge, 3 or 4 at a time, 15-20 seconds on each side. They should float.

13. Remove the bagels to a cooling rack placed over a sheet pan. If topping, press the top or both top and bottom, if desired, into a pie tin containing the topping of choice. (If the bagels' surface is too dry for the toppings to stick, place a damp paper towel on a baking pan or another pie tin. Put the bagel on this for a moment before pressing into the topping mixture.)

14. Then place the bagels on a clean, parchment-lined baking sheets sprinkled with semolina or coarse-ground cornmeal with at least one inch between them.

15. Repeat steps 10. and 11. until all the bagels have been boiled and topped. (Note: If you cannot bake all the bagels at once, leave the ones you cannot accommodate in your first bake in the fridge until the first batch has been baked, then repeat steps 9.-11. with the remaining bagels.)

16. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until the desired degree of brownness has been achieved.

17. Cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes. Those that are not to be eaten right away can be frozen for later consumption.

Sourdough Pitas

David M. Snyder

1. Disperse the liquid starter in the water.

2. Add the flours and mix thoroughly.

3. Ferment at room temperature until expanded and bubbly (8-12 hours). If necessary, refrigerate overnight and let warm up for an hour before using.

Procedures

1. In a stand mixer bowl with the paddle attachment, disperse the levain in the water.

2. Add the flours to the liquid and mix at Speed 1 to a shaggy mass.

3. Cover the bowl and let it rest for 20-60 minutes.

4. Add the salt, sugar and olive oil. Using the dough hook, mix at Speed 1 until the ingredients are well-dispersed, then mix at Speed 2 for about 8-10 minutes.

5. Transfer the dough to a 2 quart lightly oiled bowl, and cover the bowl tightly.

6. Ferment at 76ºF until doubled in volume, with a stretch and fold at 1 hour. (Bulk fermentation took about 4.5 hours.)

7. Divide evenly into 8 pieces (125g each) and form the pieces into balls.

8. Cover the pieces and let them rest for 10-20 minutes.

9. Roll the pieces into 7-inch diameter circles. Flour them well. They should not stick to the board.

10. Cover and let the pitas proof for 10-20 minutes.

11. 45-60 minutes before baking, pre-heat the oven to 500ºF with a baking stone in place.

12. Bake the pitas 2 or 3 at a time for 5 to 5.5 minutes.

13. As they come out of the oven, cover the pitas with a cloth. They should remain soft and flexible.

14. If not to be eaten immediately, freeze the pitas. They thaw and freshen well if heated in a microwave oven at full power for 10 to 15 seconds , wrapped singly or in pairs in waxed paper.

 Note: One can “spike” the dough, optionally, with 1/8 tsp instant yeast. If you do, add it with the sugar, salt and oil. And bulk fermentation will be about 90 minutes. Procedures are otherwise the same.