29/09/2026
It’s one of the few things we’re pretty stubborn about at Happy Bagel.
There are definitely easier ways I could make bagels.
There’s actually a shortcut becoming more common in commercial bagel making, especially here in Australia, where the traditional boiling step is skipped altogether. Some commercial ovens can steam the bagels before baking instead.
It’s quicker. It’s easier. And when you’re producing hundreds at a time, believe me, I understand why that sounds appealing.
Especially when I’m standing over boiling water in the middle of the night wondering why I chose a product that requires me to individually give every single one a bath before I can bake it.
But there’s one problem.
The boil is kind of the whole point.
Boiling starts setting the outside of the dough before it hits the oven and helps create that beautiful exterior and distinctive dense, chewy texture you expect from a proper bagel.
Take that step away and... sorry, not sorry... we’re in bread-roll-with-a-hole territory.
And I didn’t spend years trying to recreate the bagels I loved in Canada just to start cutting corners now.
At Happy Bagel, they’re rolled by hand, cold fermented, boiled and then baked fresh.
Every single one.
Is it the fastest way to make hundreds of bagels? Absolutely not.
Does it create more work, more washing up and make me question my life choices while staring into the blanket of darkness every wake & bake? Absolutely.
But we’re not trying to make the fastest bagel.
We’re trying to make the best bagel we possibly can.
Because the whole reason Happy Bagel exists is to bring the kind of fresh, chewy bagel I fell in love with in Canada home to Mackay.
And some things just aren’t worth taking shortcuts on.
Xo, Happy
P.S. I kind of already know the answer to this, but before Happy Bagel, did you know a proper bagel was boiled before it was baked?
