So I bought about half a dozen bagels from Panera Bread last night, and it is quite apparent this morning that they use little or no preservatives - they are pretty hard, even though I put them in a ziploc bag in the refrigerator.
Short of freezing them (and would that help anyway?) what else can I do other than make a daily bagel run?
Freezing and toasting works great for me.
If you don’t like them toasted … I have no idea.
I doubt it’s preservatives. I’m not certain what makes bagels go stale, but I suspect it has nothing to do with the growth of bacteria or mold, which is what preservatives deal with. Anyway, I’ve always discovered that they keep better out of the fridge, though they obviously will get moldy sooner. They don’t get nearly as stale when kept at room temperature, though.
Slice, then freeze. Buy a dozen at a time and when you pull them out you can toast or microwave wrapped in a paper towel. Toaster is better, but the microwave works fairly well.
I doubt it’s preservatives. I’m not certain what makes bagels go stale, but I suspect it has nothing to do with the growth of bacteria or mold, which is what preservatives deal with. Anyway, I’ve always discovered that they keep better out of the fridge, though they obviously will get moldy sooner. They don’t get nearly as stale when kept at room temperature, though.
What I do is to take the bagels out of the paper bag and I put them into a large plastic tub and I “burp” the cover to let out as much air as possible. I use one of those Ziploc® disposable pack of 3 large tubs. This usually lets me enjoy bagels for about 2-3 days, versus eating hard bagels the morning after buying the bagels. Hope this helps.
I buy my husband’s favorite garlic bagels by the dozen. I double bag 'em (they are super garlicky, so garlicky it’d leak through just one bag) and freeze them. He likes his garlic bagels toasted, so I take one out of the freezer, wrap it in a paper towel and nuke it for 20 seconds, which is just enough to enable me to saw it in half. Toast it, butter it and serve it.
You can also revive a stale bagel by wrapping it in a damp paper towel and microwaving it for about a minute.
Freezing works fine. The key is to keep them from drying out (i.e. enclose them in a sealed plastic bag).
Jess, as others have said – if you cut them in half before freezing them, then you can avoid the often rubbery quality that arises from microwaving them. Its a bit more effort up front, but less effort overall (you don’t have to nuke em), plus they’re better.
Freezing them is best. “Going stale” is mostly (although not entirely) a function of moisture loss.
Panera Bread “bagels” would be vastly improved by leaving them out for a day or two. Then, if you toast them, they might actually come within a light year of the taste of a real bagel.
Rule #1: If it’s not boiled, it’s not a bagel.