How do I correctly revive a frozen bagel?

[duckdown]

Greetings, all

I went in for a :"group buy" on the Toronto forum for Bagels from Montreal; they arrived overnight fresh from St. Viateur (a famous bagel place in Montreal) and I placed them directly into the freezer; I didn't even eat any when I first got them because I had a terrible cold

So now, with frozen solid bagels, what is the reccomended method for bringing them back up to par?

Obviously I cannot slice the bagel and toast it, and I would assume just "toasting" the frozen solid bagel wouldn't work.. So how should I go about this?

I want to experience the "montreal bagel experience" for myself :)

Thanks for the advice!

[Karl S]

Well, don't let them darken the interior of a microwave. Do the moistening/toaster oven route.

Only a stale bagel should be toasted. A really good bagel should be hot from the oven, but not split and toasted.

[bramptonfoodie]

thaw in pastic bag on counter. Boiled bagels I put in a wet paper back and put in oven at 350 to restore. Baked just right on the rack in preheated over for a count of 25 to 35.

[chowser]

For future reference, I slice through most of the bagel but leave it together before freezing. Then you can break apart frozen ones and toast.

[lexpatti]

most frozen bread products, I put in plastic, in the microwave for 30seconds to a minute but only on power 3 or 4 at the most. then toast as you would.

[harryharry]

my mother taught me to put the bagel in a brown lunch bag (small paper bag) - sprinkle with a little water - and put in the preheated oven for 5-10 minutes - It worked very well, these were New York bagels by the way - are Montreal bagels boiled and baked?

[NYchowcook]

I've successfully done something similar (w/ a NYC bagel) -- preheat oven to 400 or so.
Take fully frozen bagel, run quickly under cold running water, and place directly on wire rack in oven until fully heated through.

It re-creates a fresh hot bagel (versus toasting)

[cimui]

Brilliant. I'm doing this from now on. Just like making 'fresh' soft pretzels at home.

[morebubbles]

When I buy bagels here in Montreal, (after I eat a couple as they are - no toasting, no spread - just to taste their fresh goodness), I slice the rest in half, then freeze. That way they're easy to toast one at a time when ready to enjoy one another day.
In your case though, I would take one (or however many you'll be eating) and let it thaw on a counter, it won't take too long, the slice and toast. Spread with cream cheese and enjoy!

[ipsedixit]

Um, how about just leaving them out on the kitchen counter to defrost at room temp? Or, if you prefer a slower thaw, transfer them to the fridge.

[cimui]

i'm less familiar with montreal bagels than nyc bagels (they're skinnier and sweeter, right?) -- but for new york bagels, i just defrost (one at a time if that's all i'll eat) and toast.

[petitgateau]

I nuke the bagel just enough to defrost (20-30 seconds) and then toast after splitting. I like my bagels crunchy :-)