About 8-12 hours before you want to prepare your dough, feed 10 grams of sourdough starter with 70 filtered water and 80 grams flour (you can use all-purpose or fresh milled).
Once your starter is active and bubbly you can begin making the dough. Start by finely grinding the soft white wheat (100 g) and hard wheat (red or white is fine) (400 g) in your grain mill.
Combine the filtered water (250 g), active starter (150 g), honey (50 g), fresh milled flour, and salt (10 g) in the bowl of your stand mixer. Knead with your dough hook on a low speed for about 8-10 minutes. This dough will be very stiff and difficult to knead by hand, but if kneading by hand do so for at least 10-15 minutes.
Cover the dough and allow it to rise at room temperature until doubled, usually about 6-8 hours depending on the temperature of your kitchen. I like to mix up the dough at night so it is ready by morning, however you can refer to the sample schedules in this blog post to see what timeline might work best for you.
Once the dough is doubled, transfer it to the countertop and divide into 8 equal pieces. If you want to weigh them out for consistency, each piece should weigh about 110 g. Roll each piece into a ball and set aside. Allow the dough balls to rest for about 10 minutes.
Begin shaping the dough balls into bagels by placing your thumb directly into the middle of the dough ball. Then, using your fingers in the hole you just made, gently begin to stretch the ball out in a circular motion, creating a large hole in the middle. Repeat this process with all of the dough balls. Set them on a parchment lined baking sheet and cover with a damp tea towel. They will now complete their second rise, which usually takes about 1-2 hours.
When the bagels have risen, bring 6 quarts of water to a boil (I like to use my 8 qt dutch oven because it is nice and wide) and preheat your oven to 375°F. Once the water is about boiling, add honey (2 tbsp) and baking soda (1 tbsp).
Now you will begin boiling the bagels by placing them into the pot of water. I can fit 4 at a time in my dutch oven, but if your pot isn't as wide you may need to do less to avoid over crowding them. Boil them on one side for 2 minutes, then flip them oven and boil for 2 more minutes. Transfer bagels back to your parchment lined baking sheet.
If you are choosing to add toppings (see the "make these fresh milled flour sourdough bagels your own") section, do that at this point. Then bake your bagels at 375°F for 25 minutes, If you are concerned whether they are done, check the internal temperature which should read at least 200°F.
Serve your bagels for breakfast as a side or as the star for an egg sandwich, for lunch with deli meat or chicken salad or as a treat with flavored cream cheese. Enjoy!
