(no subject)

This week shall be bagel week.

So the word on bagels seems to be that it's a two day process, and, here's the crucial bit, the stages of production are slid around all over the place. (Mind you, I'm looking at a Reinhart recipe and that's kind of his gig anyhow, but it's odd even by his standards.) I actually can't quite tell what happens where! It looks like you shape the dough before it's even done a single fermentation (not counting the pre-sponge), then slap it in the retarder before the first fermentation is finished. Wha? Also, boiling. Does the yeast survive this? It has to, right? But it must also be the first stage of cooking, because the longer you boil, the tougher the finished product?

I'll need to get baking sheets sometime this week; maybe Fred Meyer has some. I kinda want to get a half-sheeter made with good quality heavy-gauge steel, just so I can be done with sheet pan shopping for basically ever. I've heard Chicago Metallic is the one to go for; we'll see who's got what.