At New York Bagels ‘N Bialys, we mix our bagel dough daily. Our suppliers deliver fresh, raw ingredients such as flour, malt and cinnamon right to our kitchen. Then we break out our proprietary recipes and begin mixing. If you ever find yourself in another bagel bakery (hey, it could happen), and they claim they have "fresh" bagels, ask to see their mixing bowl. Or, ask to see raw, unformed dough. The blank stare you get in return indicates you've successfully called their bluff. They don't have "fresh" bagels. They have bagels that were delivered frozen by a truck from out of state.

WE, on the other hand, would be glad to show you our mixing bowl. And if you show up at the right time of day, you may even get to see our expert bakers operating the bagel former. The former is the machine that takes carefully weighed pieces of dough and shapes them into raw bagels. On a typical day, we shape hundreds of dozens of raw bagels. If you're too shy to ask for a tour, just take an inquisitive peek past the counter next time you're at our restaurant. The "from scratch" process will be taking place before your eyes.

AFTER a raw bagel makes it through the former, it is only about halfway through the "from scratch" process. These newborn bagels are not yet ready to be baked (to borrow a phrase, "we will serve no bagel until it's time"). No, as a matter of fact, these bagels are about 12 - 24 hours away from the oven. This waiting period allows the yeast to do its job properly. Storing the bagels overnight at an exact temperature makes certain that when they do graduate to the oven, our bagels are ready.

THE last step for a bagel before it reaches the oven is quick swim the kettle. (This is another way to spot bogus bagel shops. Ask to see their kettle. If they can't show you a kettle, they aren't making bagels, they're making bread--it's that simple.) Why is the kettle so important? Kettle-boiling a bagel is what gives it a crisp outer shell. If you're going to have a bagel without a crisp outer shell, you might as well spread cream cheese on a hamburger bun!

Finally, after their dip in the kettle, our bagels are ready for the oven. Yes, it's a long process. But it's all worth it, wouldn't you agree?

Our mixing bowls can easily hold over 200 pounds of dough!

When the bagels have been formed, we hand place them on boards dusted with corn meal. (The corn meal dusting on one side of the bagel helps prevent it from sticking to our oven racks.) This is where they wait their turn for the swim in the kettle.

The bagels aren't in the kettle for long. Usually between 15 and 30 seconds. Altitude is a factor in how long a bagel needs to stay in there for. A baker in the Rocky Mountains will need to follow different guidelines than one in, say, New Orleans.

If you didn't know that bagels are amphibious, you aren't alone. There's a lot more involved in making genuine bagels than most people realize.

Baking at 500 degrees, most bagel varieties require 12 - 15 minutes in the oven.