Store bought - bagels a better value than expected

I was at the store the other day and saw bagels in the refrigerated section. Mmmm, bagels with cream cheese I immediately thought, reaching for them. Then I thought, “Wait! I bet I could make them cheaper.” I knew the basics – they were made like bread and that they were boiled before being baked-- how hard could it be? As it turns out, while they aren't hard at all, they are more convenient to buy. If you have the time, I suggest trying it once. That's all I needed to convince me that they were worth the money to buy them from the store. I don't say that often but the result was very similar to the store bought (not “bagel place” bagels which are better, but also very expensive) bagels. Also, the time spent making them actually makes the store bought bagels less expensive. That's my opinion though, you may feel differently.

So here's the low-down on bagel making basics from the recipe I used. You'll need a lot of flour (about 4 cups), a lot of boiling water (about 3 quarts) and a lot of patience. The first rise takes about and hour and a half. Then you have to let the dough rest for 20 minutes after you divide it into pieces, to make shaping easier. Making the bagels takes about 10 minutes (and you get about 10 bagels out of the recipe). After that, they rise again for 20 minutes; then they're boiled, then they're baked. After all that, you can eat them, burning your mouth in the process and assuring you will taste nothing for a few days. Or you wait for them to cool completely-or enough so you can avoid scorching your tongue. That's about a half of an hour to an hour. So adding up the time spent waiting, and waiting (and did I mention waiting?) it comes out to about four hours. That doesn't include time spent making the dough. Right there, my time is worth more than the four dollars spent on the store version.

If you're interested in making your own bagels-and I say try anything once- there are recipes galore on the Internet. Here's one to start you off. You might even find that you really like making them yourself and if you do, I say that's awesome!