36-Hour Cold-Fermented Bagels

Ingredients

• 1000 g Bread flour (Use this as the total flour weight; scale all other ingredients from it.)
• 560 g Water (This is 56% of the flour weight. For whole-grain flour, consider increasing to 58–60%.)
• 20 g Barley malt syrup (2% of the flour weight; contributes classic bagel flavor, browning, and crust character. If using non-diastatic malt powder instead, increase the water multiplier by 0.02.)
• 20 g Sugar (2% of the flour weight; adds fermentation food and supports browning without making the bagels sweet.)
• 25 g Salt (2.5% of the flour weight.)
• 5 g Active dry yeast (0.5% of the flour weight. For instant dry yeast, use 0.4% of the flour weight instead.)

Steps

1. 1

   Choose the total flour weight for your batch. The quantities listed make approximately 10 bagels; for a different batch size, multiply the flour weight by 0.56 for water, 0.02 for barley malt syrup, 0.02 for sugar, 0.025 for salt, and 0.005 for active dry yeast.

2. 2

   Combine the flour, water, barley malt syrup, sugar, salt, and active dry yeast in a mixing bowl. Mix until no dry flour remains and a stiff, shaggy dough forms.

3. 3

   Knead the dough until it becomes cohesive, smooth, and elastic. Because this is a deliberately stiff bagel dough, kneading may require firm pressure or a mixer fitted with a dough hook. The finished dough should hold its shape rather than spread.

4. 4

   Cover the dough and refrigerate it for approximately 36 hours. This long, cold fermentation develops flavor while keeping the yeast activity slow and controlled.

5. 5

   Remove the dough from the refrigerator and divide it into equal portions. Shape each portion tightly into a smooth ball, then roll each ball into a rope and join the ends, or form the center hole directly. Make the holes generous because they will shrink during proofing and cooking.

6. 6

   Place the shaped bagels on a lightly floured or parchment-lined tray, cover them, and let them proof until slightly puffy. Avoid overproofing; they should still feel resilient and retain their shape.

7. 7

   Bring a wide pot of water to a boil. Boil the bagels in batches, turning them once, until their surfaces look set and slightly swollen. Drain briefly before transferring them back to the tray.

8. 8

   Bake the boiled bagels in a fully preheated hot oven until deeply browned and the crust is firm. Cool them on a rack before slicing so the crumb can finish setting.

Notes

This is a baker’s-percentage formula rather than a fixed-size recipe. The transcript does not specify kneading, proofing, boiling, or baking temperatures and times beyond the approximately 36-hour refrigerator fermentation, so those process details are practical completion guidance. For whole-grain flour, use a water multiplier of 0.58–0.60. For non-diastatic malt powder, increase the water multiplier by 0.02. For instant dry yeast, use a 0.004 multiplier instead of 0.005.

Nutrition per serving

• breakfast
• bread
• baking
• bagels
• vegetarian
• long-fermentation
• make-ahead
• chewy