Lazy Bagels in the Combi Oven

For this recipe, you need a steam oven, also called a combi oven, like the Anova Precision Oven. We got ourselves one for an early Christmas gift this year!

Asking myself how I wished I could make bagels, I had this answer: having pre-shaped bagels in the fridge already, I'd like to pull them out of the fridge, dunk them into a room-temperature bath, and put them straight into an oven. Tell the oven to proof, then steam, then bake, and go get them out when they're done. Well, guess what? It worked, and here they are!

They're covered with crazy over-proof bubbles all over, but the bagels have a crispy crunchy thin shell over a chewy layer, with a softer middle. I've never had a NYC bagel to compare with, but we're liking the crazy crunchy bubbles. I might try to tone-down the chew, so they're easier to bite. I've decided to forgive them for having pale-looking bottoms.

I use an Ankarsrum/Magic Mill mixer, which can handle this stiff dough. Even so, it took a bit of work to get it to take all the flour, and was difficult to shape. A mind of its own. Next time I'll probably bump it up to 602 g (2.54 cup) of water, for a 65% hydration that is easier to work with.

Here's my "Lazy Bagel" recipe. After the shaped dough is in the fridge, you can bake bagels one to six at a time by dunking in the bath, putting them in the oven, and waiting for the 45 minute oven program to run.

Lazy Bagels

60% hydration dough

INGREDIENTS

Dough

552 g	(2.33 cup)	water
1 Tbsp		salt
21 g	(2.33 Tbsp)	wheat gluten
905 g	(2 lb)	bread flour
1.5 tsp		yeast, instant/bread
16 g	(2 Tbsp)	malt, non-diastatic
2 tsp		malt, diastatic

Dunking Bath

237 g	(1 cup)	water
1 pinch		salt
0.25 tsp		baking soda
8 g	(1 Tbsp)	malt, non-diastatic

Equipment

2 half-sheet pans with lids

Mesh-style “Silpat”

Combi (steam) oven

Directions

A day or two before:

4. Make dough; The dough should be stiff rather than wet, pulling away from the bowl rather than pooling, although still smooth:
1. Measure water and salt into the mixer. Mix gluten with about ⅓ of the flour, and add to the mixer, and start it on low speed. Let it keep running.
2. Reserve about 1.5 cups of the flour. Mix the yeast and malt powders into the remainder of the flour, and add to the mixer while still on low speed. Depending on your mixer, switch to dough hooks when the dough is thick enough for the hooks to work.
3. Gradually add the reserved flour. Increase the speed to medium and allow to knead for 7 min, checking occasionally.
5. Remove beaters, covered mixer bowl, and proof at room temperature for 1 hour.
6. Line 2 half-sheet pans with a sheet of parchment.
7. Using very little flour, cut and roll dough into 12 equal tight balls. Poke a finger through the ball, and roll it out to make the hole oversized; the hole will shrink by the time it's a bagel.
8. Lay six bagels on each lined baking sheet, pop on a cover, and refrigerate overnight or for up to 2 days.

On baking day

1. Mix up the dunking bath in a bowl slightly larger than one bagel.
2. Dunk up to six bagels in the bath, one at a time, and lay on a mesh-style Silpat. Place on the next-to-bottom oven rack.
3. Run a 3-stage oven routine*:

 

Stage	1	2	3
	proof	steam	bake
Transition		automatic	automatic
Sous Vide	on	on	off
Temperature	90°	212°	450°
%	100	100	75
element	rear	rear	rear
fan	high	high	high
time	20	8	15
starts	immediately	immediately	immediately

 *If baking more than three at a time, when time is up, rotate the rack and bake until the bagels are a nice, even brown all over.

Sources:

https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/bagels-366757

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdeQT7KkqM8

http://www.homemadebagels.com/2009/10/how-to-make-bagels.html#.WryEj4jwb-w

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/bagels#comment-29114

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/bagels

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/bagels#comment-29114 

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/bagels#comment-134395 

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/bagels#comment-155801 

http://www.homemadebagels.com/2009/10/how-to-make-bagels.html

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/bagels-recipe 

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/a-dozen-simple-bagels-recipe

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/water-bagels-recipe