I successfully made Hamelman's bagels recently (added lightly soaked dried cranberries, patted dry, with orange zest). After shaping & overnight retardation, he boils straight from the fridge. I just watched the Breadtopia bagel videos, and after a night in the fridge (shaped), before boiling he says to bring them to room temp (1-3 hours). Both use the ice bath after boiling. Neither gentleman mentions the "float test" that Mr. Reinhart uses.
So, if they've been shaped and chilled several hours, boil them cold or at room temp, and why?
The "float test" doesn't seem popular or discussed much on TFL, so is that step really necessary? I haven't tried Mr. Reinhart's recipes yet because use of the poolish and float test seem questionable in what I've read so far. I got nice texture & crust from Hamelman's recipe, despite adding the fruit. Plan to do the Breadtopia version soon, and will boil some cold and some at room temp to judge any differences. Thanks!
an overnight retard at all - Lauren Groveman's famous Julia Child bagels on YouTube come to mind buyt they yeast bagels. I like to overnight retard 18 hours because I make SD bagels. They always pass the float test cold out of the fridge if I let them rest on the counter for an hour before retarding - in the winter - not required in the summer. If they don't rise enough in the fridge and can't pass the test, then you want to let them warm up on the counter till they do for best results. I make a little dough ball for the test rather than tossing in a whole bagel.
Happy bagel making