Here's what the well dressed bagel is wearing in the city!

Two different variations on the same theme. Anyone will tell you that good, chewy bagels must be boiled. The question is, for how long and what do you put in the water? On the left are bagels ala The Bread Baker's Apprentice. Boiled for 30 seconds per side with baking soda added to the water.

The dough is made from a sponge, rested for about 15 minutes, scaled, rounded and rested again. There are two methods of shaping the bagel; thumb and rope. I went with the thumb through the middle. The shaped bagels go in the fridge overnight. In the morning they go right from the fridge into the boiling water.

The bagels were nice and chewy. That's the benefit of boiling them. I guess that few seconds in the water is just enough to set the crust.

On the right are bagels ala Izzy, from Breads From the La Brea Bakery. These bagels beging with refreshed sourdough starter. They too are boiled, but only for 10 seconds per side. Instead of baking soda, he adds malt syrup to the water.

The mixing through retarding steps are pretty much the same as with Reinhart's bagels. One difference is that Izzy makes no mention of the thumb shaping method, just the rope. I went with the thumb anyway.

The crumb seems to be the right density. The crust was properly chewy. Izzy says that most of a bagels flavor is in the chewing. There was slightly more flavor in these than in Reinhart's. I'm guessing it was the starter. If I have barm ready I'll use it. Otherwise the sponge is fine.