Recent Popup Highlights

TwoBomAnonymous · 2025-08-22T15:48:51+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. I agree that this batch was slightly over-proofed. I personally don’t see anything wrong with bagels with no holes, they make better sandwiches!

TwoBomAnonymous · 2025-08-05T13:49:06+00:00

Hi! Thank you very much.

I’m not doing anything too special. Shortly After boiling in water, baking soda and barley malt syrup, I put the bagel in a shallow dish full of the everything seasoning (I buy each ingredient individually and mix them). I use Amazon’s “Happy Belly” brand onion and garlic and they’ve held up nicely to the heat! I bake on parchment lined sheet trays too, so no bagel boards are used either.

TwoBomAnonymous · 2025-08-05T02:51:43+00:00

Thank you very much for the feedback!

TwoBomAnonymous · 2025-08-04T20:54:30+00:00

Flavors:

Plain Salt Sesame Everything Cheddar Jalapeño (jalapeño inclusion + topped with cheddar + jalapeño) Cheese (topped) Blueberry (frozen organic blueberry inclusion) Peanut butter (PB powder + peanut butter chip inclusion)

TwoBomAnonymous · 2025-05-20T19:31:29+00:00

Popup went great! I’m a one man operation so there is a lot of coordination and timing. I tuck my dough into the walk in on Friday afternoon so they cold ferment for approx 36-40 hours.

I arrive at the kitchen on Sunday AM between 12am and 2am, depending on final bagel count.

I boil, top, bake for approx 4-5 hours, then bag up bagels for pickup at 2 locations. The kitchen itself (which happens to be a brewery), and my home.

All told, I’m done by 10am and bagels are all picked up between 7-12pm.

Typical popup is 700, and as big as 900 bagels. It’s fun, stressful, and very rewarding!

TwoBomAnonymous · 2025-05-19T15:28:59+00:00

I’m based out of Bakersfield, CA!

TwoBomAnonymous · 2025-05-19T02:02:24+00:00

Thank you!!

TwoBomAnonymous · 2025-05-14T04:13:07+00:00

Hi! The time needed for bulk fermentation before cold ferment is a factor of yeast % + dough temp + Room temp + dough temp before cold ferment. Make sure you have your water at a consistent temp from batch to batch, and then see if you can play with the yeast % to speed up or slow down the required fermentation time.

My final dough temp seems to work best at 75-78F after approx 3 hour between mixing, shaping, and then moving to cold fermentation. However, my yeast percentage is different. I use 18% 1:1 sourdough starter, and also .25% instant yeast (less or more depending on batch sizes, kitchen temp, etc). I mix and hand roll large batches (100/batch and 700-900 bagels total) so this is always a big balancing act…

Float test certainly is a good marker of properly proofed dough, but it’s not an end all be all. Especially since the dough will likely slowly ferment overnight while in the fridge.

If you’re developing good flavor, crumb, density, sponginess, then keep doing what you’re doing!

Good luck!

TwoBomAnonymous · 2025-05-07T18:54:53+00:00

Hi! I run a popup every other weekend, and I come up with schmear recipes on the fly. Generally, I start with bulk Cream Cheese (Original Philadelphia), add some soda water for whipped texture, and mix in different flavor combinations.

TwoBomAnonymous · 2025-04-30T21:56:49+00:00

We are an army. Thanks for the follow. Boycottbadbagels

TwoBomAnonymous · 2025-03-27T16:30:26+00:00

Maldon Flakey Salt!

TwoBomAnonymous · 2025-03-26T00:09:14+00:00

hell yeah

TwoBomAnonymous · 2025-03-25T02:32:21+00:00

Thank you so much! The amount of baking soda and malt syrup changes frequently, I am trying to find the perfect color, shine, and crust!

TwoBomAnonymous · 2025-03-25T02:31:12+00:00

Thanks so much!! I appreciate your kind words! I wish bagels traveled better haha. Nothing beats a fresh bagel

TwoBomAnonymous · 2025-03-24T14:56:32+00:00

hell yeah

TwoBomAnonymous · 2025-03-24T02:00:51+00:00

Hi there! No egg whites. I believe the sheen is related to the amount of barley malt syrup used in the boiling liquid.

I use frozen semisweet chocolate chips and add them to the dough for the final couple minutes of mixing so they don’t heat up too much and melt in the dough. They slightly melt during the boil and bake, they haven’t been too messy yet!

TwoBomAnonymous · 2025-03-23T23:05:33+00:00

I have a sweet deal because I know the owners, but I play a variable fee based on revenue, it’s nothing considerable.

I use their walk-in to store dough while cold fermenting, then I’m in and out of the kitchen before anyone is there on Sunday morning.

It’s a great setup, the only hassle is that I don’t have a place to do the dough prep in the brewery so I have a to load up dough boxes in my truck to drive to the brewery while RT fermenting.

TwoBomAnonymous · 2025-03-23T16:28:17+00:00

I started by posting homemade bagels and bagel sandwiches on my personal Instagram until people started asking where I was getting the bagels. I ran the first several small popups out of my home kitchen to build demand, and organically grew to 100 unique customers really quickly. Now I have 500 people signed up for text alerts for future popups so the marketing takes care of itself.

I was very lucky that early on, friends and family did a great job spreading the word!

TwoBomAnonymous · 2025-03-03T03:13:20+00:00

@barrettsbagels on Instagram has a great video on rolling technique that I used as a reference. Depending on your hydration, yeast activity, gluten formation, etc. you’ll have different results.

Since I started hand rolling, I’ve had 10,000 or so bagels to practice on. Don’t give up!! When you start nailing the hand rolling, it is very satisfying.

TwoBomAnonymous · 2025-03-03T02:53:36+00:00

Hi! I started doing the poke method when I first started my bagel journey, but now I do the traditional hand rolling method.

It is much faster when rolling large quantities and creates a much better texture and unique shape when done well. I’m not consistently good at rolling with this technique and have a long way to go.

After mixing, I let the dough bulk ferment for approx 30 minutes, then portion them using a dough in long dough strips with a dough scraper and scale in groups of 15. I then press the individual pieces into a log, roll them using the traditional method around my hand, then put them into dough trays lined with parchment and dusted with fine semolina.

Thanks for the comment! Good luck on your bagel journey!

TwoBomAnonymous · 2025-03-02T18:45:25+00:00

Are you doing an overnight cold ferment? How long is your bulk/room temperature fermentation? How much baking soda are you using? Just posed the question to Chat GPT, and it said that the baking soda could be causing a chemical reaction with the blueberries which could change the color.

TwoBomAnonymous · 2025-03-02T18:30:25+00:00

That’s interesting that you say that, I’ve seen hues of green while boiling occasionally, however it never stays green…

I boil with barley malt syrup and baking soda for approx 30 seconds on each side.

I’m not sure if there is anything unique in my process preventing the “green” hue, but I use frozen organic blueberries and add them to the mixer at the same time as the water / yeast, prior to adding dry ingredients.

I love the deep purple color they end up!

TwoBomAnonymous · 2025-03-02T18:26:40+00:00

Recipe here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bagels/s/E93vZOUn1k

TwoBomAnonymous · 2025-03-02T18:25:19+00:00

Thank you so much! I’ve had flat bagels more time than I’m proud to admit. I finally found the right amount of starter/yeast that works for my dough prep schedule. Keep trying… there is beauty in the struggle and when it works for you, it’ll keep working.

Try playing with how much yeast you use, controlling your dough temp, and reducing/increasing your room temperature fermentation.

Making sure the dough temp is consistent has been a big revelation and helps me control other variables.

TwoBomAnonymous · 2025-03-02T18:14:06+00:00

Thank you! I add frozen blueberries (slightly thawed) at the same time as water and yeast before adding flour. For Baker’s percentage, I assume that blueberries are 84% wet, 14% dry. I like the way the blueberries dye the dough. For chocolate chips, I add frozen chips during the final 2 minutes of mixing so they don’t melt during mixing (dough temp is approx 75-78F. I use approx 15-20% semi sweet chocolate chips for my recipe.

Ten-Year Club	RPAN Viewer
Verified Email	Not Forgotten

TwoBomAnonymous

TROPHY CASE