Home » What Makes New Jersey Bagels Taste So Yummy?
New Jersey is known for many things: the Shore, the Sopranos, Bruce Springsteen, but more importantly, bagels! While our New York neighbors may think they have a monopoly on bagel greatness, we here at Fast Bagel know otherwise. So what is it about Jersey bagels that make them so unique and delicious? Let’s take a closer look.
In order to give you the full picture of what’s involved, we’ll be talking about OUR process throughout this article. While every bagel shop has a different baking strategy, our team has been pumping out Jersey bagels the same way for nearly 50 years, so we consider ourselves experts on the topic!
And while our name is Fast Bagel, the “Fast” refers to the speed at which we get orders out the door, not how quickly we make bagels. In fact, there’s nothing quick about our process. We do it the old-fashioned way, which takes time. Not to give away the ending here, but it takes nearly 2 days to make our bagels. (yep, we bake slow & serve fast)
First, we make the dough. At Fast Bagel, our bakers use only the highest-quality ingredients available– flour, salt, sugar, yeast and more. These ingredients are mixed with Jersey water.
Why is the water in New Jersey so important to the end product? Jersey has soft water that contains a low concentration of minerals. This allows for the perfect baking chemistry when mixed with the flour’s high concentration of proteins. It’s a marriage made in heaven, and the result is a magical dough that is dense and chewy in texture, and not dry and spongy like bagels from other parts of the country.
Once the dough is made, we chop it into 4-ounce bricks to ensure each bagel is roughly the same size upon completion. These bricks are then rolled into bagel form and placed onto wood boards that are covered in corn meal to ensure the dough doesn’t stick to the surface. The bagel boards are then placed into baking racks and covered for proofing, which is the process of letting the dough rise naturally at room temperature for 45 minutes to an hour.
After proofing, the racks of bagels are then placed into the walk-in freezer for cold fermentation. This is a critical step and one that cannot be skipped. The freezing temperatures allow for the release of the natural flavors contained within the bagel dough. Without this step, the bagels would come out bland and flavorless. Our bagels stay in the freezer for a minimum of 24 hours to allow for full-flavor fermentation before we pull them out for thawing and baking.
Now that our bagels are ready for the oven, this next step is where things get really interesting. To give our bagels that distinct chewy texture, we drop them in a kettle of boiling Jersey water for a minute or two before baking. This process creates a gelatinous exterior and sets the outside crust. While boiling is one of the shortest steps we take in the bagel’s journey to completion, it’s probably the most important. It’s what sets our bagels apart from the rest of the country.
After boiling, the bagels are then moved from the kettle to cedar plank boards, and then sprinkled with the various seeds for flavoring. The boards are then placed in a revolving-tray oven for nearly 20 minutes. The resulting bagels have a crunchy, golden brown exterior and a consistently dense interior packed with deliciousness – the unmistakable hallmark of a Jersey Bagel.
Once the bagels are fully baked, we place them into metal bins to let them cool for 10-15 minutes before serving to customers. The end product is a delicious, savory Jersey bagel ready for your enjoyment!
So now that you’re familiar with the many steps we take to form, boil, and bake the perfect bagel, we’ll fill you in on a little secret ingredient no one else can duplicate– our LOVE for what we do!
At Fast Bagel, we take great care to ensure that every bagel is made to our exact standards. We’ve been doing it this way for nearly 50 years, and we don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. We don’t cut corners and we don’t rush our baking processes, because we know that the best things in life take time. So that’s why we bake ‘em slow, and serve ‘em fast!
Just because we take a long time to make bagels doesn’t mean you have to wait a long time to enjoy them! Download the app, order now, and your food will be ready in 15 minutes or less. Fast Bagel is proof that you can enjoy amazing Jersey bagels without having to wait in long lines. See you at the nearest Fast Bagel Store soon!
FAQs
At Fast Bagel, our bakers use only the highest-quality ingredients available– flour, salt, sugar, yeast and more. These ingredients are mixed with Jersey water. Why is the water in New Jersey so important to the end product? Jersey has soft water that contains a low concentration of minerals.
Why is New Jersey bread better? ›
NJ gets its water from the Catskill Mountains, which has very soft water, meaning it has low concentrations of calcium and magnesium. This soft water perfectly matches the high protein concentration of the bread flour.
Are NYC or NJ bagels better? ›
Sorry folks, but the New York bagels I sampled were tastier with a lighter yet more complex texture, fresher inside with enough chewiness, crispy outside but not too hard to bite, all with a hint more of that yeast that makes you close your eyes and relish the moment like you've never had a bagel before.
What makes a bagel taste good? ›
But bread flours with a more modest amount of protein (around 12%, like our 12.7% unbleached bread flour) can make an excellent bagel too, albeit one with a more tender, open crumb; as can the inclusion of whole grain or high-extraction flours, which provide more flavor and texture as well.
Why are bagels better in New York? ›
a regular bagel is the water you boil them in. Much like a specific vineyard terroir is used to make a wine, certain minerals in New York City tap water are attributed to creating the best bagels. These include low concentrations of calcium and magnesium and a high level of sediment.
What makes NJ bagels so good? ›
These ingredients are mixed with Jersey water. Why is the water in New Jersey so important to the end product? Jersey has soft water that contains a low concentration of minerals. This allows for the perfect baking chemistry when mixed with the flour's high concentration of proteins.
Where is the most delicious bread in the world? ›
World's best breads: the list of winners
- Roti canai (Malaysia)
- Pan de bono (Colombia)
- Butter garlic naan (India)
- Nan-e barbari (Iran)
- Pan de yuca (Colombia)
- Focaccia di Recco col formaggio (Italy)
- Baguette (France)
- Naan (India)
It's an indisputable fact that New York City is home to the best bagels in the country. Whether it's the water used, the hundreds of years of history, or some magic spell, it's nearly impossible to recreate the magic that is a New York bagel anywhere else but there.
What makes Brooklyn bagels so good? ›
Here's the key though. Good bagel bakeries, according to the chef, let those trays of bagels sit in a cooler for a couple of days. A process called proofing. This allows the yeast time to slowly ferment and release lots of different flavor compounds, up to 50 different ones.
What is the secret of New York bagels? ›
The Key to a Real New York Bagel
New York bagels get boiled prior to baking, defining their special texture in a solution of water and barley malt. A long boil and thicker crust inhibit rising, resulting in a dense interior while a short boil yields a crusty yet chewy bagel bite.
Montreal and New York City are both known for their bagels. I've lived in New York since 2021, and have eaten plenty. I also recently tried them in Montreal. I found Montreal's sweet, dense bagels to be better than New York City's large, doughy ones.
Can you eat a bagel without toasting it? ›
A good bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon does not have to be toasted, as contrast with the fat and salt will be provided by the crunchy crust of a properly made bagel exterior. But a buttered bagel should almost always be toasted, so that you get that great, rich melted butter taste.
What is the perfect bagel? ›
Ideally, we want the top of the bagel to be slightly crispy, a little shiny, and somewhat browned. You know those little bubbles you sometimes see on bagels? That's a good sign! That means the bagel was boiled and then baked at a high temperature.
Why are bagels on the East Coast better? ›
The differences between East Coast and West Coast bagels have been a topic of great debate for years. Some people believe it's due to water used during dough creation, while others claim that there are other factors at play such as yeast variety or time spent proofing the bread before baking them.
Why are bagels better in Long Island? ›
Some say it has to do with the water, some say it's the old-fashioned recipe imported from Eastern Europe and perfected in America. But no matter how you slice it, LI bagels are a cut above the rest.
What do New Yorkers eat on their bagels? ›
A bagel is an iconic New York food. It's a round bread, with a hole in the middle, savory, crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. It's topped with seasonings and traditionally filled with cream cheese and smoked fish. It's most known as a breakfast item but can be eaten at brunch or lunch time.
What are the top 3 bread producing states? ›
The wheat class everyone knows from their. Almost every U.S. state is involved in agricultural wheat production. The latest statistics show that North Dakota, Kansas and Montana were the leading wheat producing states among the United States.
Why does pizza taste better in New Jersey? ›
And let's not forget the iconic tomato sauce that is bursting with flavor. But what truly sets our pizza apart from the rest is the water. That's right, New Jersey's water makes all the difference when it comes to creating the perfect crust.
What is New Jersey most known for food? ›
Various foods invented in the state, such as the pork roll, and salt water taffy, remain popular there today. The state is known for its commercial food and industrial production, beginning with the founding of the Campbell's Soup Company, headquartered in Camden since 1869.
