Club TWiT: Bagels & Bandwidth - Testing Our Black Hat 2026 Streaming Setup

Presenter / Channel

• TWIT (Club TWiT) – “Bagels & Bandwidth”
  • Host cooks bagels during a live tech setup test.
  • Other participants mentioned include Anthony (others are off-camera / in chat).

Ingredients (with quantities/substitutions mentioned in subtitles)

Starter + levain

• Sourdough starter (“Dolores”)
  • Live starter culture, fed periodically with rye flour.
• Leaven/Levain
  • Made from starter + flour + water (exact amounts not given).

Flours

• Whole-wheat bagel flour
  • Eorn (ancient, high-protein wheat), described as ~15% protein (bagel-style bread flour behavior).
  • Whole wheat
  • Rye flour used to feed/maintain the starter.

Boil flavor + color components

• Barley syrup
  • Provides malty flavor; described as like barley molasses.
  • Includes sugar + salt + color (as described).
• Diastatic malt
  • Mentioned as part of the bagel recipe (quantity not given).

Lye / substitute

• Sodium hydroxide (“food-grade lye”, “Drano”)
  • Added to boiling water in a tiny tiny amount—just a few grams.
  • Safety debate/substitution noted:
    • Some people use honey instead (not used in this run).

Toppings (from “Soma Spice Queen”)

• Everything bagel topping
  • Onion, garlic, poppy, sesame, and “flirtel salt” (host uses an “everything” mix).
• Poppy seed bagel topping
  • Plain poppy seeds.
  • Noted as not from the same supplier batch as the everything mix.
• Sesame seed topping
  • Plain sesame seeds.
• Optional variant (not used here)
  • Calabrian peppers for spice (offered, but host says he doesn’t like spicy).

Serving ideas (not part of baking)

• Butter
• Preference mentioned: cream cheese
  • Plus classic smoked-salmon style additions: smoked salmon, red onion, capers, black pepper, dill.

Equipment / Setup / Prep

• Oven
  • Convection oven preheated to 475°F.
• Steam method (manual)
  • Ice poured onto lava rocks in a deep dish frying pan at the oven bottom.
  • Lava rocks provide extra surface area for steam.
• Baking support
  • Baking steel, preheated inside the oven.
• Mixer
  • Ooni Halo (spiral mixer).
• Sous vide
  • Used at 78°F to incubate the starter/leaven overnight.
• Staging
  • Raw bagels rest on cornmeal so they don’t stick.
  • Cooling rack used after boiling.
• Safety note (subtitles)
  • Lye is dangerous; subtitles state instructions recommend gloves/eye protection.
  • Host mentions he did not follow all safety guidance during broadcast.

Step-by-step method (key timings/temps/technique cues)

1) Make/activate sourdough leaven (high-level timing)

• Start 2 nights before with starter + flour + water (levain).
• Incubate in sous vide at 78°F overnight.
• Technique cue: slower, controlled fermentation for development.

2) Mix dough + cold ferment (general routine)

• After activation, dough is mixed with bagel ingredients (flour, diastatic malt, sugar, barley syrup, etc.).
• Rest/rise strategy:
  • Slow, low-temperature rise via cold/fridge ferment.
• General schedule mentioned near the end:
  • Mix → rise ~3 hours (with a couple turns around 1.5 hours)
  • Shape → refrigerate 12–18+ hours
  • Bake when ready (brunch timing discussed)

3) Preheat oven

• Convection bake at 475°F for 20 minutes (plan).
• Baking steel is already in the oven.
• Steam apparatus ready:
  • Lava rocks in bottom dish, ice planned for loading moment.

4) Boil setup (traditional bagel technique)

• Bring water to a boil.
• Add barley syrup first for malty flavor, sugar/salt, and color.
• Add food-grade sodium hydroxide (lye)
  • Host characterizes it as a tiny tiny amount (few grams).
  • Technique cue: alkaline water toughens skin and drives color/blistering (“pretzel/bagel effect”).

5) Shape + boil bagels

• Place raw bagels on cornmeal.
• Boil timing:
  • Target: ~20 seconds per side
  • In the live segment, he briefly uses 30 seconds for one batch due to timer limitations.
• Technique cues:
  • Bagels should float if risen enough (“If they didn’t, they haven’t risen enough.”)
  • Flip after the first boil side; then move to cooling rack.

6) Toppings prep (apply before baking)

• Put toppings into shallow bowls so bagels can be pressed into them.
• Application:
  • Everything: press bagels into the mixture.
  • Poppy: add poppy seeds generously after boil-ready stage.
    • Note: extra distraction/time may make them tougher, but bagels should still be chewy.
  • Sesame: press firmly (sesame doesn’t stick as well); press more or add extra.
• Batch plan:
  • 12 bagels total
    • 6 everything
    • 3 poppy seed
    • 3 sesame seed

7) Load into oven with steam, then vent and bake schedule

• Load process:
  • Open oven quickly.
  • Pour ice onto lava rocks to create steam.
  • Place bagels in/over the baking steel (host notes concerns about positioning while doing it).
• Bake timeline:
  • First 10 minutes: convection 475°F with steam
  • After 10 minutes: vent (remove steam)
  • Next 5 minutes: convection at 475°F
  • Then:
    • rotate pans for even bake
    • lower temp to 450°F for last 5 minutes
  • Total bake time: 20 minutes
• Technique cue: rotate near the transition to balance browning.

8) Cool before cutting/serving

• Cool on racks.
• Cooling instruction:
  • Cool for 10 minutes before cutting.
• Emphasis cue: “hardest part”—they’re too hot to eat immediately.

9) Doneness + final texture check

• Whole wheat expectations:
  • Less puffiness; darker overall tone.
• Doneness checks described:
  • Crust: chewy
  • Interior: tender
  • Crumb: less airy (smaller holes), attributed partly to whole wheat and wheat chaff interfering with gluten stretch

Tips / Common mistakes / Notes (from subtitles)

• Hygiene
  • “Hygiene is everything.”
  • Host wears a hat to keep headphones from falling into dough.
• Boil timing
  • Some recipes use longer cooks, but host targets ~20 seconds per side; too long can toughen.
• Risen-enough check
  • Bagels that float are likely sufficiently risen.
• Steam matters
  • Manual steaming (ice + lava rocks) used because there’s no auto-steam feature.
• Lye safety
  • Lye is dangerous even if only a few grams are used.
  • Subtitles imply instructions call for gloves/eye protection.
• Whole wheat behavior
  • Whole wheat rises less than white flour because husk bits interrupt gluten stretch.
• Don’t cut too early
  • Cool about 10 minutes before slicing.

Serving / Plating suggestions

• Serve warm with:
  • Butter
  • Or classic smoked-salmon cream-cheese style toppings:
    • thinly sliced red onion, capers, black pepper, dill
  • Note: host says cream cheese wasn’t available for this cook.
• Cutting approach:
  • Host cuts after cooling; bagels are shown steaming-hot when sliced.

Referenced sources / influences

• Mauricio Leo, “The Perfect Loaf”
  • Main sourdough bagel recipe source (host’s “roughly his recipe”).
  • Notes adaptation over time; older method has changed.
• Kenji Lopez-Alt / Serious Eats
  • Influence on yeast-based bagel technique.
  • Shape method described: form a ball, poke a hole with thumb (rather than rolling into a snake).
• Soma Spice Queen
  • Source/brand of seasoning blends for toppings (everything mix noted).
  • Discussion includes shipping/international availability.