You Gotta Freeze (Good) Bagels
I didn’t have a donut until I was 7 years old. My hometown of Mississippi is more like a biscuit establishment, but bagels became a part of my life when I moved to Los Angeles in 1993, as did Jewish delicacies. It was an exciting time.
I currently live in Portland, Oregon, but this is not a bagel town. There are many places where bagels are made , but there are only two that are good – and only one of them is good at any given moment, and I never know which one it is. (I am not going to name them. I don’t want to fight, and I – selfishly – don’t want to increase the waiting time in any of the establishments.)
When I do order bagels from one of the two walkable places, I order at least a dozen because I rarely ever feel like eating just one bagel. I take out the bagels that I plan to eat over the next two days (this is the longest bagel that “works” at room temperature and pressure), then I cut the rest in half, toss them in the freezer bag and put them in the freezer. Then, if later on I want a nice (toasted) bagel, all I have to do is get one out of the freezer and toast it.
The bagel that comes out of the toaster isn’t quite as good as a fresh bagel from a regular bagel, but it is much better than a bagel from the grocery store, or even a fresh bagel from most places where bagels are made and served. in Portland, Oregon (if you live in a real bagel town where you can have a good bagel every day without any problem, congratulations! This trick has nothing to do with you).
There are several ways to warm up a bagel. I like to put a frozen bagel (or half a bagel) in the deep fat fryer basket, then set the temperature to 400 ℉ and let the bagel heat up in a tiny convection oven. By the time the fryer reaches the set temperature, the bagel is lightly browned. Wait another minute and it will turn golden brown.
If you don’t have a deep fryer, you can use a toaster. Lifehackercompanion , writer and bagel freezerSarah ShovSafety loves to give her a head start in the microwave. “A higher setting [in a toaster] can make them stiff in two ways (from freezing to some browning),” she explained to me via Slack. “So I would say that first softening them in the microwave for about 10 seconds is probably best (faster than toasting twice as long at a lower setting).”
When they are tender, place them in the toaster until they are browned to your liking. Grease and lay over fish or smoked fish. (Portland may not have the best real salmon, but our smoked salmon game is pretty tough.)