I am new to this forum, I just received the BBA bread book and I tried the bagel receipe. I followed all the directions and yet I found the bagels had no taste and they flattened out. Any input as to what I could have done wrong would be appreciated. I used malt syrup for the sugar. Does malt syrup have a shelf life? Please respond.
Barley malt syrup has a shelf life of about a year, give or take, if kept refrigerated and air tight after the jar is opened. After opening, it can/will mold in short order, if not refrigerated.
Sounds like your bagels were over proofed and/or boiled too long. This is the cause of the flatness.
Cannot speak to the taste issue as I have not used the bba recipe, but they all seem to be pretty similar(except for retarding/refrigeration). Are you sure you didn't forget to add the salt?
I have done a couple of the King Artur recipes, and one or two others. Taste was pretty much like, a bagel.