Tuesday, July 12, 2011

On Avenue A, a bagel oven for Tompkins Square Bagels

Yesterday, Tompkins Square Bagels at 165 Avenue A near 10th Street took a big step toward its opening date with the delivery of a bagel oven and dough mixer ...




Christopher Pugliese, part owner of Court Street Bagels in Cobble Hill, is eyeing an Aug. 1 opening ... we'll have more on all this later...

Previously.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Are you sure that's not a dough mixer?

EV Grieve said...

It probably is a dough mixer... I don't know my bagel assembly parts!

Kurt said...

Definitely a dough mixer but the real question is are they going to boil their bagels or are they going to go the modern, inferior way of steaming the bagels in the oven?

Anonymous said...

it's about time. this has been almost a year in the making

R said...

yesterday I saw some homeless guy on the corner of 4th st and Avenue A struggling to move what looked like a small boiler that was lying on its side on the pavement. I was thinking money for scrap metal. As i gotten closer, I saw the "Hobart" nameplate on it, it was some sort of industrial kitchen mixer.

Melanie said...

I am totally excited for a bagel place. RIP H&H btw. This mixer is great!!Never saw one as large. Bagels are boiled,no??

AC said...

Finally some positive news around here. Looking forward to neighborhood bagels.

Kurt said...

@Melanie, traditionally bagels are boiled but there are modern ovens where the rolled bagel is placed and then steamed and then baked. I know this because as a teen I worked in a bagel shop that had one of these steam injection ovens. Not many people boil bagels these days and that is why you don't get the chewy crust.

marjorie said...

Unboiled bagels are a SHONDEH. Kurt, back me up on this.

I'm hopeful about the new place!

BagelGuy said...

I would never EVER sell steam bagels (A.K.A. round loaves of bread) ! You want steam bagels go to Hot and Crusty. The kettle will be arriving tomorrow at 10AM. That oven is a Cutler. This is one of the original ( some say best) bagel ovens. The company no longer exists so the only way to get one is to find one used and restore it. That's what I did. The temptation these days is to go with a steam oven because that way you will save $ on your gas and electric bills and can eliminate the messy kettle business altogether. Our bagels are going to be hand rolled and kettle boiled. This is the way my partner and I did it as kids deep in the outer reaches of the un-gentrifiable parts of Brooklyn. Out there the other way isn't an option unless you have a death wish ;-)

Kurt said...

@marjorie, agreed!

@BagelGuy, good to hear there hasn't been a place that boiled bagels in the neighborhood since David's and I wasn't really a fan of their bagels for some reason.

One question, will you toast the bagels if requested?

BagelGuy said...

We will toast ! A lot of people don't like to toast because the actual toasting takes a few minutes and it backs up the line because most toasters can only handle 3 or bagels at a shot. I got a huge toaster so hopefully that solves the problem. The bagels won't be like David's or H&H. H&H used white sugar instead of barley malt and was way too sweet in my opinion.

Ken from Ken's Kitchen said...

Why are commenters on this blog constantly busting this guy's balls? And who the hell asks for a good fresh bagel to be toasted?

Kurt said...

@BagelGuy, that was a trick question!!! A fresh bagel out of the oven needs no toasting! Feh.

I'm actually kidding (kind of). Toasting is for bad bagels but I know lots of people like to have them this way and I can see why a business owner needs to meet this request.

I look forward to tasting your bagels. Good luck.

David said...

the BagelGuy knows his stuff, i'll make sure to have one when i'm down there.

BaHa said...

As someone born and raised in the far reaches of ungentrifiable Brooklyn, I can't wait. Can't remember the last good bagel I had in Manhattan; I think it was in 1981.
Good luck!

Jill said...

Will there also be bialies? I think at this point they may be extinct. But it looks funny to write bialies when maybe it should be bialys.

Melanie said...

@ BagelGuy and Kurt--thanks for the info.

BagelGuy said...

Yes to Bialys. Until we open you can get amazing bialys at Kossar's.

marjorie said...

@BagelGuy, I like your style. Psyched for your opening!