BAGEL LOG: DAY 3
So, everyone who said “split the bagels before you freeze them” was correct, if belated. This is the last of the baked bagels; it went straight from the freezer into the toaster oven on “toast” for about 5-7 minutes. It definitely came out the best, but it was a whole-ass bagel when it went in, so I had to cut it in half one way before I could cut it in half the other without burning my fingers. It did crisp up the best, though, of the three trials. I think it’s because the moisture level fluctuated the least. It’s not that I think moisture gain or loss matters, I think it’s how stable the moisture remains until you hit the finished product.
Now we start on the boiled-but-not-baked bagels in the freezer; I’m going to bake half of them straight from the freezer and thaw-then-bake the other half, then we’ll go from there. SCIENCE! FOOD SCIENCE!
[ID: A plate containing four pieces of a mini bagel; it has clearly been cut in half from top to bottom before being sliced the way a bagel traditionally is, into top and bottom halves. Two pieces, one of which has a bite taken out of it, are buttered.]
Kenji Lopez-Alt argues that splitting-and-toasting a bagel is only for mediocre bagels - it makes bad bagels better but it makes good bagels worse. He advocates for moistening the outside of a frozen bagel (I stick it under the running tap briefly) then pop it in the oven (or toaster oven) at 325 for 10 minutes. That warms it all the way through but maintains the distinction between the crispy outside and the chewy middle.
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