I tried the steaming method on half the bagels in my usual whole wheat flour recipe, using a regular metal steamer basket. They came out great--almost indistinguishable from the boiled ones, and much less messy (other than forgetting to grease the steamer basket, oops). I was wondering though--isn't steam essentially "distilled" water? In which case, wouldn't the sugar or malt powder stay in the pan and never touch the bagels? Would it be better to brush the bagels with a little bit of the malted/sugared water before steaming, or do the ingredients in the water make their way onto the bagels anyways? Living here in Vermont I know that during sugaring time the air smells very sweet so there will be some sweetness in the steam. The purpose of putting a little malt or sugar in the water is to give your bagels a shine. I do not think the sweet steam will do this so you may want to brush your bagels first. Joan D@bakershotline

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