This is the BEST Way to Store Bagels and Keep them Fresh for Longer!

Soft on the inside, glossy, and slightly crunchy on the outside – the bagel is a favorite breakfast essential to many. Whether you like it plain, with everything, with or without sesame or poppy seeds, there’s one thing we can all agree on – it has to be hot and fresh! The downside of these delicious rolls is that they have a very short shelf life. Don’t fret, you don’t need to force yourself to eat a whole pack for a weekend, or worry about having to throw stale food away, because we know the BEST way to store bagels! Let’s find out what it is! 

The BEST Way to Store Bagels

You’ve just gone to your favorite bakery and stocked on freshly baked bagels, but you don’t plan on eating all of them anytime soon. What would happen to them over the next few days? Well, chances are that they would’ve gone bad the next day which would be a waste of money and, of course, delicious bagels. Same as with any other baked goods that don’t have any preservatives, if you don’t store them properly, they won’t last and retain their freshness for more than a day or two. What makes the bagel is its soft moreish center that unfortunately will go hard and crunchy unless you know how to prevent this from happening. Here’s what you can do:

Do Bagels Last Longer in the Fridge or on the Counter?

The longevity of your bagels is first and foremost determined by the way they’ve been made. If they’re homemade, their shelf life will be no longer than 2 days. If they are store-bought, they can last up to 5 days, depending on the ingredients and packaging. You can extend the life of the bagels a couple more days if you store them in the fridge, but make sure that they are put in an airtight container. This will add 3 more days for both the homemade and store-bought rolls. If you know that you’re going to be away for a while, and you’ve just bought a fresh pack that you can’t bring with you, you can pop the bagels in the freezer where they can last for up to 3 months, and remain just as fresh as they were when you got them!

Read also: Fact-Check: Does Freezing Food Stop It From Expiring?

Is it Better to Store Bagels in Paper or Plastic?

If you have freshly baked bagels, it’s best to store them in a paper bag on your counter. However, this is a good choice only while the bagels are hot, and you know that you’re going to eat them over the course of the day. If you want to store them for the next 2–3 days, what you can do is simply put each bagel in an individual ziplock bag and store them at room temperature. If you don’t have any ziplock bags, you can simply put them in an airtight plastic container, and either keep them on the counter, or in the refrigerator, but only after they have cooled completely.

Read also: DIY Reusable Linen Bread Bags – Zero Waste Food Storage Ideas

How Long Do Bagels Last in a Ziplock Bag?

You can easily make your bagels last up to 5 days if you store them in a ziplock bag. However, you must remove all air, or as much as you can, from it and remember to absolutely NEVER put them in the bag when they are hot. This will make them soggy and cause them to go bad quicker. To preserve the bagels for longer than a week, you should freeze them. Before you do that, cut the bagels in half, wrap each individual slice in cling film, put two halves in one ziplock bag, and place them in the freezer. As I mentioned above, this will help them last around 3 months.

When you decide that you want to eat one, take the slices out, put them directly in the toaster, and they will be perfectly ready to consume in 3 minutes!

Is it OK to Eat a Stale Bagel?

Hey, nobody’s perfect! Maybe you left them on your counter for too long, or you didn’t have the proper container to put them in. Whatever the reason may be, the good news is that stale bagels can be brought back to life. What you have to do is simply sprinkle a little water on top and put them in the oven. They should come out as good as new!