The New York City-based Zucker’s Bagels & Smoked Fish shop is debuting its first retail product: Par Baked Frozen Bagels in four-packs. Zucker’s Plain, Sesame and Everything bagels launch this month at online retailers Fresh Direct and Goldbelly, and tri-state retailers Butterfield Market, Westside Market, select ShopRite NJ stores.
Zucker’s old school baking process begins with the shop’s popular bagel recipe, a favorite in for nearly twenty years. Using unbromated, unbleached flours, water and a hint of pure malt syrup, its bagel bakers kettle boil, generously seed and partially bake bagels in their rotating ovens, starting on burlap-covered boards and then flipping onto stone slabs. The bagels are then frozen to lock in their freshness. At home, consumers become the baker with minimal fuss: first they refresh the frozen bagels with water, and then finish baking in an oven or air fryer for 9-14 minutes.
The result is a golden brown bagel on the outside with a dense, chewy inside that can be enjoyed warm out of the oven, or even the next day. Consumers spread their favorite schmear and create a sandwich worthy of a real NYC bagel.
“You no longer need to be in New York City to have the best bagel experience,” said founder Matt Pomerantz, a lifelong New Yorker who’s been in the bagel business for more than 30 years. “Our par baked bagels are not your average frozen bagel.. With the finest natural ingredients and traditional process, I’m proud of the craftsmanship established when we opened our first shop in Tribeca in 2007, and thrilled to share our baking traditions.”
