5 ms·

Having grown up in a non bagel rich country, I've been puzzled ever since I first encountered them. What's the point of the weird shape? What's wrong with a squ

• gjvc 5y ago
  the uniform shape helps ensure even heat transfer for when they are cooked in boiling water (to which is added baking soda), and baked evenly in an oven. (in case you are wondering why they are boiled, it's to develop a chewy crust)
  • ars 5y ago
    It's not for the oven, it's for when they boil in water. A proper bagel is boiled first, then baked. It's also used for transportation and display by threading a rod or string through the hole, but the main reason is for even boiling. Same as a doughnut (except that is boiled in oil).
  • scbrg 5y ago
    Ah. That makes sense. Thanks for the answer :) Still, I eat plenty of bread that's non bagel shaped and fairly evenly baked. I guess I pay slightly more for the more difficult production process then, or have to suffer bread that's just not quite as perfectly uniform in texture as it could be. Well worth it, if you ask me, to not have to deal with the frustrating shape. Mileages vary, of course :)
    • bigDinosaur 5y ago
      I, too, kind of share your perspective, and indeed prefer the texture and structure of non-bagels to bagels. I just find them unnecessary and harder to put fun fillings inside them.
      • thaumasiotes 5y ago
        > and indeed prefer the texture and structure of non-bagels to bagels. They're different textures. They are best suited to different things. But if you want non-bagels in the shape of bagels, Costco's store-brand bagels are like that. I hate them so much. If I wanted regular bread, I'd buy regular bread.
        • bigDinosaur 5y ago
          Where does a bagel excel? I've had so many disappointing bagels that I've become jaded about them (but bear in mind I'm from Australia which, as far as I know, is not really known for having a culture of bagel excellence.)
          • alisonatwork 5y ago
            New York City and Montreal are both well known for having very good bagel bakeries, each with their own distinct traits. In my experience the further away you get from those two cities, the more a bagel ends up tasting like regular (and often stale) bread that just happens to be in a torus shape. In any case, you should always get one freshly baked from a bakery and not from a supermarket bread aisle. I'm surprised at the number of commenters here talking about toasting a bagel. In my opinion, if you need to toast the bagel, you already failed at finding a good bagel. A good bagel should already be somewhat crispy on the outside and pleasantly soft on the inside, and it shouldn't need anything spread on it to be edible.
            • samatman 5y ago
              Toasters with a bagel setting concentrate the heat on the cut side of the bagel (which is presumed to be the inside), a toaster oven can do this even better by setting at toast to heat up, then using the broil setting for the actual toaster. This gets three textures going: the crump stays chewy and dense, the crust isn't burned (very important if it has any allium topping, fairly important for seeds, still not great for plain), and a nice crumbly toast layer. Which holds up under schmear and butter excellently. I agree that a fresh bagel should be tasty direct from the bag, but I'm still going to be eating them with toppings for the most part.
    • Broken_Hippo 5y ago
      I eat plenty of bread that's non bagel shaped and fairly evenly baked. So do people that eat bagels. I'm going to guess that you consider rolls and a slice of bread different bread, though. The sheer amount of the 'crust' on a bread roll contributes significantly to the taste and texture of a roll. Similarly, the sheer amount of "inside bread" on a slice affects its texture and taste. And of course, they affect how they cook. Same thing with a bagel. A good bagel has a fairly chewy outside and a somewhat dense interior. Changing the ratio of these two affects taste. Heck, you even notice it if you eat different sizes of bagel. I'll also note that the shape isn't often all that frustrating, at least to me. Half of the bagels I've eaten have very little hole in the middle and they hold sandwich fillings pretty well. Edit: I might be a little nostalgic, though: I moved to a place with few bagels indeed and I kind of miss them.
      • oldmantone 5y ago
        FWIW, "inside bread" is called "crumb."
  • kevinmchugh 5y ago
    Malt syrup is more traditional and tastier than baking soda
• emoII 5y ago
  https://youtu.be/cpynN_B_7QI?t=57 https://youtu.be/cpynN_B_7QI?t=57 Although this is not a definite answer I think it makes sense, that the inconvenient hole actually provide a convenient storage solution, historically at least.
• arrrg 5y ago
  Not sure about bagels (could just be tradition), though, for example, the Brezen* shape achieves a contrast between crunchy and soft with its shape. Also makes it quite hard and impractical to spread stuff on it (which leads to some just cutting open the large soft part and spreading stuff there which is horrific and wrong), but it’s worth it. Spreadability of stuff on something isn’t the only relevant factor. * not a perfect photo, the difference between the thin and thick parts is a bit small, but it’s ok: https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Laugenbrezels#/media/File%3A2014_Laugenbrezel.jpg https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Laugenbrezels#...
  • the_mitsuhiko 5y ago
    So completely useless fact but "Bagel" comes via Yiddish "beigel" from "Beugel" which means "little horn" (similar etymology to "bend"). In Austria and Germany there are still bread products call "Beugel" and they look like a horn (https://images.ichkoche.at/data/image/variations/620x434/4/beugel-mit-mohnfuelle-img-35841.jpg https://images.ichkoche.at/data/image/variations/620x434/4/b...). So I suppose the original form might not have been closed yet into a ring.
    • phkahler 5y ago
      >> So completely useless fact but "Bagel" comes via Yiddish "beigel" Around 2005 one of my coworkers from Germany would bring a large box with assorted beers for us when he came to the US. He would always fill it with bagels before returning. He loves bagels but said they don't really have them back home and he didnt know why. I paused and said "oh... they're a Jewish thing." He paused, lowered he head slightly and said "Oh, oops."
• dtgriscom 5y ago
  A solid block of dough, heated rapidly (e.g. bagel in boiling water, or donut in hot oil) will still have an undercooked center once the outside is fully cooked. Adding the hole evens out the heat transfer.
• alisonatwork 5y ago
  As other posters have pointed out, different shaped breads have different textures because they cook differently, so there is a flavor aspect to preferring bread with a hole. But I wonder if perhaps historically there might be a convenience aspect too. In Turkey there is also a bread with a hole called simit, and over there street vendors sometimes thread the breads on sticks or with string to carry them around. I think there is a Middle Eastern bread like that too. That makes more sense to me than carrying a bag full of hot, fresh breads without a hole, especially in warm climates.
• layer8 5y ago
  > it looks like someone went out of their way to create a shape that makes it as difficult to deal with as possible I’d like to introduce you to pretzels. :)