NOSH ON THIS

When it comes to bagels, Sam Brickman doesn’t mess around. He’s got the recipe down to a science to achieve the bread’s signature texture—crisp on the outside and oh-so-soft on the inside.

- CARLY SIMPSON

It takes five days to make a batch. It’s a precise process of proofing times, hydration percentages and temperatures. On Day 1, Sam makes a pre-ferment (equal parts water and flour) and adds a sourdough starter. The mixture gets nice and bubbly and starts to rise. Then it goes into the cooler overnight and hangs out there on Day 2. On Day 3, it goes into the mixer with all the other ingredients and becomes dough. It’s shaped and put back into the cooler where it stays on Day 4. Finally, on Day 5, the bagels (up to 1,200 a day) are boiled in a large kettle and then baked (and quickly devoured).

“Being Jewish, bagels are a part of my heritage,” Sam says. “I grew up in Detroit where there’s a big Jewish community and a ton of really good bagel shops. Every Sunday we would have bagels.”

Though Sam had eaten a lot of bagels, he didn’t actually bake a bagel until 2019. After a lot of trials (he keeps a bagel journal) and a summer slinging his boiled beauties at the Sara Hardy Farmers Market (and selling out every week), he opened Bubbie’s Bagels in February 2020.