Who are the Otters?
𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚂𝚃𝙾𝚁𝚈 𝚘𝚏 𝚃𝙾𝙱𝚜
Hi !
We’re Dan and Kelly Eberhardt aka “The Two Otters!”
𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓓𝓔𝓢𝓔𝓡𝓥𝓔 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓼𝓮 𝓫𝓪𝓰𝓮𝓵𝓼!
𝙏𝙬𝙤 𝙊𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝘽𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙡𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝙔𝙤𝙧𝙠-𝙨𝙩𝙮𝙡𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙡𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙍𝙚𝙙 𝘽𝙡𝙪𝙛𝙛!
“Why Red Blufff?” 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚜𝚔 - simple, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙳𝚊𝚗 “𝙿𝚊𝚙𝚊 𝙾𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛” 𝙴𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚝 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚠 𝚞𝚙 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚜 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎.
In 2021 𝙳𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙺𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚢 “𝙼𝚊𝚖𝚊 𝙾𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛” 𝙴𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚁𝚎𝚍 𝙱𝚕𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚃𝚞𝚕𝚜𝚊, 𝙾𝙺 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝙲𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚊! 𝘽𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙳𝚊𝚗 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚑 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚝𝚋𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝚞𝚌𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚛𝚜 (!!!) , 𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝙱𝚒𝚍𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 / 𝚅𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚊 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚁𝚎𝚍 𝙱𝚕𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝙷𝚒𝚐𝚑. 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝙹𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚐𝚑 𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚕 𝙳𝚊𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚊 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚗 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝙶𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚍 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝙳𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝚍𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛-𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚜!
Eventually 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚞𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙳𝚊𝚗 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚂𝚑𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚊 𝙲𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚐𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙲𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚘 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚗𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗, 𝚓𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙰𝚒𝚛 𝙵𝚘𝚛𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙳𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚗𝚞𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚙𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚑𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚗 (𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚗𝚎𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚖 𝚗𝚘𝚛 𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚢!).
After the Air Force 𝙳𝚊𝚗 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚍𝚎𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝙻𝚘𝚞𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚊 𝚃𝚎𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚐𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚐𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛. 𝙳𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝙳𝚊𝚗 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚍!
In 2010 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙳𝚊𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚊 𝚂𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝙰𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚂𝚎𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝙰𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚢 (𝙳𝙲𝚂𝙰) 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙳𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚃𝚞𝚕𝚜𝚊, 𝙾𝙺. 𝙳𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝙳𝚊𝚗 𝚖𝚎𝚝 “𝙼𝚊𝚖𝚊 𝙾𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛” - 𝚊𝚔𝚊 𝙺𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝙴𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚖𝚎𝚝, 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚍𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚗, 𝙼𝚒𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚊𝚑, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚕 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚂𝚊𝚖𝚘𝚢𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚞𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚂𝚊𝚖𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙳𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚕𝚊𝚑.
In 2021 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎’𝚜 𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚕 𝚊 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚁𝚎𝚍 𝙱𝚕𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙳𝚊𝚗’𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍. 𝙳𝚊𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝙺𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝙽𝙸𝙲𝚄 𝚗𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍.
One constant 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙳𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚍. 𝙵𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚍𝚜. 𝙵𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚞𝚗! 𝙵𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎! 𝙳𝚊𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚜𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝙇𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙤𝙣 𝘽𝙡𝙚𝙪 𝘾𝙪𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙄𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙩𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝘿𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙨, 𝙏𝙓 𝚊𝚝 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚃𝚞𝚕𝚜𝚊, 𝙾𝙺 to be closer to his daughter Grace.
Great food unites, 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜. 𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚈𝙾𝙽𝙴 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚍! 𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚈𝙾𝙽𝙴!
Moving back 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝙳𝚊𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚊 𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝙽𝚎𝚠 𝚈𝚘𝚛𝚔-𝚜𝚝𝚢𝚕𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚕. 𝙰 𝚋𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍, 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚏𝚎𝚍, 𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙱𝙾𝙸𝙻𝙴𝙳 (𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝙴𝚊𝚛𝚕 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐁𝐎𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐃!!!), 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚘𝚝-𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚖 𝚋𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚍.
But 𝚝𝚘 𝙳𝚊𝚗’𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚗 𝚗𝚘 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 — anywhere. 𝙴𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚕𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎, 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍, 𝚝𝚘𝚘 “𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢”, 𝚝𝚘𝚘 “𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝’𝚜 not 𝚊 𝚋𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚕” 𝚘𝚛 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚊 𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍-𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚕-𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑-𝚊-𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎 … 𝚊 FRANKENBAGEL.
Eventually enough was enough!
𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚕𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙽𝚎𝚠 𝚈𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚋𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚕𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 are 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚜. 𝚁𝚎𝚍 𝙱𝚕𝚞𝚏𝚏 NEEDED 𝚊 𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑌𝑜𝑟𝑘-𝑠𝑡𝑦𝑙𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑙 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚒𝚝𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏!
A New York-style bagel with some west coast creativity.
Thus was born a passion for the humble bagel and a love to bring ℝ𝔼𝔸𝕃. 𝔸𝕄𝔸ℤ𝕀ℕ𝔾. 𝔹𝔸𝔾𝔼𝕃𝕊. to Red Bluff and the north state!
Our passion is making bagels that make you go “OH! Wow! —- that’s amazing !!!”
That’s our mission, our goal, and our purpose. To treat you with the glory of what a bagel really is!
ℝ𝔼𝔸𝕃. 𝔸𝕄𝔸ℤ𝕀ℕ𝔾. 𝔹𝔸𝔾𝔼𝕃𝕊.
What IS a REAL bagel ? Really ?!
What IS a REAL bagel ? Really ?!
Until now few people have really had the chance to compare just what IS a REAL bagel. Though there are variations of bagels, such as the famed Montreal bagel which is boiled in honey water and baked in a wood-fire oven, there does exist a decades (centuries?) old understanding of what makes up a REAL bagel. Here are the three BIG factors for “keeping it real”:
“Keeping it Real” 💯 Rule # 1
A bagel is ALWAYS boiled first. ALWAYS ‼️This is non-negotiable. If you visit a “Paneria” (wink wink) it doesn’t take an Einstein (ehh hmm 🤔) to see the bagel is missing that wonderfully crispy crust on the outside . . . it’s because the bagel was never boiled. Instead it was steamed while baking and never touched actual boiling water (the reason for this can only be assumed for the purposes of efficiency production).
The boiling water is essential because it kicks off a baking event called “gelatinization”. This event occurs when hot boiling water engages the starches on the surface of the bagel. This is what initiates one of the most important characteristics of the bagel - that crispy exterior surrounding a beautiful dense-yet-pillowy interior. When a bagel is steamed first while baking it’s literally a different baking technique being used though the steam is water. It must be boiled first. 🦦
It matters!
“Keeping it Real” 💯 Rule # 2
A bagel is ALWAYS cold-proofed for at least 12-hours (at TOBs we “cold cure” ours for 48-hours!) Cold-proofing or “retarding” the dough is a common fermentation process used in pizza dough. Patience is the name of the game here. When bagel dough is placed inside refrigeration it slows the yeasts that are digesting the starch-sugars and slows the enzymes doing all kinds of bagel alchemy. It’s during this time that the dough takes on its distinctive flavored nuances and textures. It’s also here a key clue can be found if a dough has been cold-proofed . . .micro blistering.
Micro-blistering occurs on the surface of the bagel when baking a bagel under high heat and the presence of steam (after being boiled!) and the dough has been cold-proofed for at least 12-hours. You can’t cheat the proof! 🦦
It matters!
“Keeping it Real” 💯 Rule # 3
Bagels - when boiled- are ALWAYS boiled in an alkaline sweet-water bath. Now, that sweet-water is traditionally achieved through the use of barley malt syrup but the use of raw sugar, brown sugar or even honey are also acceptable (purest may balk but that’s okay!). But, again, the sweetness component is a supporting actor to the lead here and that’s the alkaline bath. Alkaline water, again, lends itself to reacting with the starches on the surface of the bagel blimp rendering a greater susceptibility to browning during the bake period. Alkaline sweet-water bath. 🦦
It matters!
Stay Calm. Bagel On.