To a medium bowl, add bread flour and yeast. Mix it to distribute the yeast.
Then add the water and mix it. Put the mixture somewhere warm for 2 hours.
Make dough
On top of the poolish, add the yeast, the salt, and the barley malt syrup. Mix it until everything is distributed.
Add about half of the bread flour and mix it in, adding more flour until you’re at a kneadable consistency.
Then move the dough to your counter and knead in more flour until you have a nice supple dough. It should be slightly tacky but not dry.
Divide and preshape
Then weigh the dough, and divide that weight by 8. Then divide the dough into eight equal portions. Shape each piece into a taut ball.
Let them rest under a damp dishcloth for 20 minutes.
Final shaping
Grab a baking sheet that will fit in your fridge. Put a piece of parchment paper on top and top that with semolina or coast cornmeal.
To shape a bagel, flour your thumb and make a hole in the middle of a dough ball.
Twist it around on your fingers, making the hole bigger. If you like bagels with a little hole, make the hole around 2½ cm/1 inches. If you want a big hole, go for 5 cm/2 inches.
Spray some plastic wrap with baking spray and put it over the top, and let the bagels proof for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, grab a bowl of water and submerge a bagel. If it floats within 10 seconds, the dough is proofed enough. If not, put the bagels away for another 20 minutes and retry. Keep going until you have a floating bagel.
Then put it in the fridge overnight or for up to 2 days. The longer, the more taste.
Baking
When ready to bake, heat your oven to 220°C/425°F.
Add water to a pot and add food-grade lye. Alternatively, add baked baking soda.
Bring the water to a boil.
Add as many bagels as you can fit without them overlapping. Boil them for 1 minute on each side, or if you like them very chewy, go for 2 minutes on each side.
While they are still wet, sprinkle them with whatever toppings you like. Then put them in the oven for 5 minutes.
After 5 minutes, rotate the pans. If your oven heats unevenly, switch the top and bottom pans around.
Lower the temperature to 200°C/400°F. Bake for about 20 minutes more, but test to see if they are to your liking during this time.
Take them out and let cool on a wire rack, or for oven-fresh bagels, you can use them after about 15 minutes.