What’s a bagel board?
I discovered bagel boards while searching for techniques on YouTube. A bagel board is a 3 ½ x 12-14 inch long cedar board covered in a couple layers of burlap. You soak the burlap boards in plain water while your dough is rising. The idea is that in order to have a nice, uniform crust you want to pop your bagels into the oven upside down for about 4 minutes, and then flip them off the bagel boards to complete baking right side up.
The soaked burlap prevents the top of the bagel from baking while the bottoms get crispy. This should result in a very evenly cooked bagel. Here’s how I made my bagel boards.
You will need:
- Cedar 1 inch X 4 inch X 8 foot board (I paid $7.66 at Lowe’s – Lowe’s will also cut the board for you before you leave the store)
- Food Grade Burlap, cut into 3.5 inches wide strips
- Staple Gun
- Saw
You can find food grade burlap online at Amazon. Link below.
(affiliate links)
Steps:
- Decide on how long you want your boards to be and then cut three or four depending on your needs.
- Wrap each board end to end with 2 layers of burlap and staple at both ends.
Ta Da!
And there you have it!
Pretty simple, yes?
Now, please check out my detailed post on making homemage bagels. Plenty of pictures, too!
I’ve never heard of bagel boards. And now I have questions so I’m heading to the next post for answers 😉
😀 Mr. Gordon’s curiosity often benefits us!
Make sure you buy REAL cedar boards everyone. Home Depot now carries a treated product CALLED CedarTone. It is treated lumber that is NOT cedar. Don’t let the employees point you in the wrong direction 🙂
Thanks WTHRLady for the advice. I had not heard of CedarTone before. Definitely do NOT want any kind off treatment on the real cedar boards.
What is the difference between food grade and non food grade burlap? How can I tell if it is good grade? Where can I buy food grade burlap?
Hi Mary – Thanks for your comment! We did a Google search for you and found this link:
https://risinghippo.com/products/burlap-bags-jute-10-oz-food-grade-size-40-x-24
There you will find food grade burlap for sale – BUT, you should always contact the manufacturer or seller to confirm it’s food grade before buying and using to be safe.
We also found this one n Amazon: https://amzn.to/3wEN0Ej (note, affiliate link) but we still suggest you contact the seller / manufacturer directly to make sure you can use with with bagel boards.
We believe one of the differences is for food grade burlap, the material is NOT treated with petroleum, but is treated with vegetable oil. Again, when in doubt, contact the manufacturer! 🙂
Have a great day!
why cedar wood, could it use hickory or maple?
Hi May – cedar is traditional from what I understand. If you used another wood, I’d make sure it was untreated and food grade approved. You should always check with the source you would be buying the wood from and make sure it would be safe to use with a food product.