So. The Consumer Report has decided to play with fire. It has sent "trained tasters" to review and rate various brands of New York bagels - from fresh to frozen.
And in the decision that will surely live in infamy, they have declared bagels from Dunkin' Donuts, Lender's original (frozen!), and Costco as the best:
Our trained tasters tried eight plain bagels and four with “everything”: onion, garlic, sesame seed, poppy seed, and other toppings. They also tried Thomas’ Bagel Thins, which cut calories and let you eat a bagel sandwich without unhinging your jaw. Per bagel, prices ranged from 31 cents to $1.44 (for a gluten-free bagel). [...]
Bottom line. Dunkin’ Donuts, Lender’s Original, and Costco are the best choices, but be careful which Lender’s you choose: Its refrigerated Bagel Shop version was just so-so. Thomas’ Bagel Thins are a decent option if you’re watching your weight, though they taste more like rolls than bagels.
Needless to say, New Yorkers howled in disagreement. Kevin Fasick and Bill Sanderson of the New York Post wrote:
It’s a schmear job.
Everyone knows the best bagels come fresh from their local bagel shop — except the “experts” at Consumer Reports magazine, who actually prefer the frozen kind.
In a study that must be aimed at out-of-towners who don’t know their lox from their gefilte fish, Consumer Reports rated as “very good” the rock-hard Lender’s bagels sold from supermarket freezers.
“Tastes freshly baked,” the venerable consumer mag’s tasting panel gushed of Lender’s Original frozen bagels.
You’d think a magazine based in Yonkers — just a hop, skip and jump from the world’s greatest bagels — would know better.
What do you think? Which bagels deserve top billing?
I LOVE my local co-op bakery. I know the bagels I get there are delicious, fresh (no anti-mold additives), and I don't have to feel guilty about the occasional treat. I know that the money I spend stays local, and goes to the people that deserve it instead of going to megacorp conglomo. They are made in small batches from quality ingredients by artisans who care about their craft. I guess if anything we should pity the taste testers because they fell for the trap.
But then the NYP says, "Science and stats are for rubes when it comes to bagel eating, New Yorkers said yesterday as they chewed on the real thing." So science and statistics doesn't apply to New Yorkers? Oh, the hubris.
But it gets better. The NYP says, "Everyone knows the best bagels come fresh from their local bagel shop-" then just a few sentences later they say, "It was hard to find anyone who’d ever tried a frozen bagel." So which is it? "Everyone" or those "hard to find"?
I personally like the bagels made at my local bakery/bagel shop, but I can't buy them in stores across the country.
I haven't tried all the ones on the list of ones they did test, but I would have to agree with their top two choices: Dunkin' Donuts and Lenders Original are good bagels, for nationally available bagels.