How are we different?
Traditional bagels that Eastern European immigrants introduced to New York in the early 20th century were always boiled.
Modern methods of bagel production have some bakers skip this step as it is faster and easier to automate. Instead, the shaped bagels are baked in a hot oven that is also injected with steam.
Not us, though. Not only do we use an authentic New York-style recipe, we believe the most crucial step to producing a true New York-style bagel is sticking with tradition and boiling. This process pre-gelatinizes the starch in the dough, locking the liquid inside of it and expanding the interior. This also thickens the crust which is essential to creating a chewier bagel. Equally, we have stuck with tradition by leaving our bagels unsliced to lock in the freshness and keep our bagels as tasty as possible.
What you can expect
In the mid-1990s, the business founder spent two years working in one of New York’s well regarded Bagelry’s, learning the art of bagels. The knowledge that he bought home to NZ, along with his commitment to providing fresh, high quality premium bagels, means you can be sure that your bagel experience is legitimate and NOT just bread with a hole in the middle. It is fair to say we will not mess with perfection.
Superior bagels are made from shaped dough that is refrigerated overnight to “prove”, meaning, it slows down the activity of yeast in the dough as it rises. This longer, slower fermentation gives the microbes more time to generate tasty flavour compounds.
Then comes the key step to making a "true bagel" — boiling. Shaped dough is poached or boiled in water for anywhere from 30 seconds to 3 minutes. Think of it like searing a steak, it seals in the juices.
Steaming-hot bagels are scooped out of the water in which they were boiled and dumped onto a stainless steel drain board to cool