Yes, we really boil every bagel.
It's one of those steps that would be considerably easier to skip.
So naturally we don't skip it.
Boiling is part of what makes a bagel a bagel.
After our dough has gone through its long cold fermentation and the bagels have been shaped and rested, they go into boiling water before they ever see the oven.
It changes the outside of the dough and helps create that distinctive bagel crust and chew.
Then we bake them hot.
Really hot.
It's a process that takes more time and requires a little more work, but that's sort of the point.
We're not trying to make round bread with a hole in the middle.
We're trying to make a really good bagel.
There is a difference.