Hand rolled or machine made - does it matter ??

You betcha it does !!! Because here in the north state there are so few true artisanal “bagelries” unlike on the east coast very few (if any) people really take a moment to wonder “what IS an actual bagel?”. That’s okay! It’s why The Otters are here! We’re here to show-and-tell what makes a bagel so special and unique. And one of the minor but significant nuances of an authentic bagel is whether it is hand rolled or machine made.

Looking past the boiled vs steamed issue - hand rolled bagels are an art onto themselves . . . which is why machine-made bagels entered into the fray. Artists aren’t born in a day, week, or a year. It takes years to cultivate, hone, and perfect the artistry of something. Artists embrace failure as their wisest teacher. Sadly, today in a world governed by hustle culture it’s become harder and harder to apprentice new artists like the mercurial bagel roller.

If you go back east, especially in the New York City area, there's an entire subculture of craftsmen and craftswomen who provide a very unique and needed service - bagel rolling. Why? Only the hand-to-dough motion of rolling and stretching can be done that literally stretches the gluten strands inside the bagel dough helping it become that paradox of dense AND stretchy (‘extensible’ is the $5 baker’s term) at the same time. Machine-made bagels are merely formed into a circular bagel shape but haven’t undergone that small but essential part of being stretched out into a “rope” or “snake” then wrapped around the hand helping to anchor the tension made by the hand rolling. The result ? A different interior crumb can form that begins to mimic more of a crumb than is like cake or sandwich bread rather than the distinct webbed interior of a real bagel.

One final but essential feature of a hand rolled bagel that makes it special: genuine uniqueness. Literally every hand rolled bagel becomes a truly unique and utterly individualistic bagel. No other bagel will ever be just like that particular bagel. Never. Every hand rolled bagel is a little bread vehicle brimming with uniqueness and creativity that can’t be found with a machine-made bagel. Literally eating a hand-rolled bagel is eating something that is purely unique like a snowflake or . . . dare I say … YOU!