I had the joy of attending a blogger media event at Bruegger's Bagels to celebrate their 30th Anniversary of baked fresh bagels. I was lucky enough to learn how they make their bagels directly from their Corporate Executive Chef Philip Smith and their baker at their location in Melrose, MA!
Chef Philip took the time with us to explain the process for making bagels.
Did you know that Bruegger's Bagels are only made from 5 ingredients? Salt, flour, water, yeast and barley malt.
That is it!
Here are the bagels ready to be boiled. Bruegger's continually makes bagels fresh all day long. Their bagels are best eaten 3-4 hours after being made but can be bagged in a plastic bag for the next day. Another tip they gave us is that you can slice them and freeze them. Then they are ready for your toaster and will be fresh. Their bakers and managers get in to their shops at 4:30 in the morning to start the process so that when you get there for breakfast your bagel is ready and waiting!
Cinnamon raisin bagels, one of my favorites. Even the cinnamon that is used is well thought out, they use Korintje Cinnamon so you get the best taste.
Every step is done by hand. No assembly line here.
Taking the boiled bagels to prepare them to go in to the oven.
For our bagels they made Everything Bagels so here the baker is adding the toppings.
Toasting up nice and golden brown.
I can't even tell you how good this smelled and tasted fresh out of the oven! It was amazing!
Plus they have so many varieties.
You can't have a bagel without cream cheese, but at Bruegger's they use Vermont Cream Cheese and it is so good!
Plus there are so many flavors. My personal favorites are the Honey Walnut with the Cinnamon Raisin/Cinnamon Sugar bagel and the Garden Veggie with almost any other type of bagel. The bacon scallion is awesome on their breakfast sandwiches. I also heard rave reviews on the Maple cream cheese.
Of course there is great coffee too. I posted earlier about the bottomless mug program which I highly suggest if you go there often.
The chef also showed us his culinary talents by whipping up this Smoked Salmon and Dill Strata made with Bruegger's Bagels. It was really good! You can find this recipe and more on their website here.
If you are looking at cutting down on carbs they have a skinny version of their bagels. The benefit is you get to pick any bagel flavor you want and they literally cut the middle section out of it.
Here are I am with the group of bloggers that attended the event along with Chef Philip Smith. I truly appreciate him welcoming us in to his kitchen, showing us the tricks of the trade and letting us break bread, oh I mean break bagels with him.
Happy 30th Anniversary and here is to 30 more years of yummy bagels!
Happy 30th Anniversary and here is to 30 more years of yummy bagels!
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Disclosure: Bruegger's Bagels provided me with a lovely sampling of products, coupons for products, and a wonderful experience. No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.
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