Narrator: This 200-pound mountain of dough
will soon be hand-rolled into 1,000 bagels --
just a small fraction of the 100,000 bagels
made at this shop every week.
Workers start the baking process at 3 a.m.
and continue way past lunch hours.
But according to owner Scott Spellman,
the guarantee of a fresh, hot bagel
is why Utopia Bagels stands out
from the thousands of other stores across New York City.
Scott: I say it time and time again.
You may have tried a bagel, but once you try my bagel,
you will not eat another bagel.
Narrator: We visited Utopia's kitchen in Queens, New York,
to see how it prepares its bagels in such big batches.
It all starts with a 41-year-old dough recipe
that uses barley malt.
Scott: It's a really old-school way of doing a bagel.
Most stores that make bagels today use brown sugar.
But to make a good-quality bagel, you need this ingredient.
Narrator: Next, they add salt
and a large scoop of Puratos bagel improver.
Scott: So, what that does, it softens the dough inside
and it crisps the crust outside.
Narrator: Then they start filling the mixer
with New York City tap water.
But it has to be at just the right temperature.
Scott: We tend to use water
that's around 60 degrees, 62, 63.
But temperatures of the water may change
when it's hotter and colder throughout the year.
Narrator: Then it's time to add in
200 pounds of all-purpose flour,
a small portion compared to what they have on hand.
Scott: You're looking at about 7,000 pounds of flour.
Almost a two-day amount for us
that we'll go through all this flour.
And this is actually just one of my mountains of flour.
Narrator: The final ingredient is yeast.
But for flavored bagels,
the recipe may change slightly to include eggs, sugar,
or freeze-dried blueberries, depending on the flavor.
There is no set time for when the dough is finished mixing.
According to Scott, it takes a keen eye
and years of experience.
Scott: It's a thing called "when it's ready." [laughs]
How long have you been making bagels?
18 years.
Scott: 18 years. Daniel's been rolling 18 years.
It takes understanding the temperature in the air.
It takes understanding his machine that he works with,
how long it should mix.
All these things are such important factors
about what happens with our bagel.
Narrator: Once the dough reaches the desired consistency,
it's cut into sections
and transferred over to the rolling table,
where it's then formed into one large mound.
Scott: We can make up to 15,000 bagels in a day.
And this'll make approximately 1,000 bagels.
Narrator: They cover the entire thing with a plastic sheet
to help soften the dough before rolling.
Scott: And it's only about a five-minute process
that allows that dough to connect
a little better with each other.
They're saying, "Hello, how are you?"
All those ingredients are basically doing that right now.
Narrator: At any given point,
there are four expert rollers on hand.
These skilled men have between 15 and 27 years of experience
perfecting their craft --
something Scott says is a "dying breed."
Scott: There's not a school of rolling bagels
out there right now.
And these people are experts at their field.
Listen, I think Derek Jeter said it best.
If you put 10,000 hours into something,
you're a professional.
And Daniel has definitely put 10,000 hours into it.
Narrator: It takes an hour to an hour and a half
for these hand-rollers to individually slice,
roll, and twist about 1,000 bagels.
Scott: It takes a certain type of character,
because it's very tedious.
You're cutting the same thing over and over.
And I can tell who is rolling what bagel
by the way they lock their bagel and form it together.
Daniel has that little lip here
that I noticed about Daniel's rolling.
Then I can see, those were Daniel's bagels.
And it gives each bagel their own personality.
Our bagels are like snowflakes.
Every one is individually different,
and that's what makes it special.
Narrator: Once the bagels are rolled,
they're placed on these racks,
covered with plastic, and left to proof for a half hour.
They then move into one of three fridges to ferment
for at least 24 hours.
Scott: What we're gonna do now is open these bagels up,
'cause we still have to reduce the heat
to stop the rising of these bagels.
We tend to stop the proofing,
where a lot of places tend to expand their proofing
so their bagels are bigger.
There's a misconception that bigger bagels are better.
And they're not, by far.
As you see, each rack has approximately 1,000 bagels.
So you're looking at 10,000,
15,000 bagels right before your eyes.
And this is only one of my fridges that we keep the bagels.
Here's my second fridge.
Again, you have racks of bagels.
One, two, three, four.
We have close to 7,000, 8,000 more bagels.
So this is basically where we'll keep
our everyday making of the bagels.
Now it's time for fun and games.
We're going to start baking some bagels.
We'll always have two people working the oven.
So there's a kettleman, which we'll call him.
So he'll control the flow of the bagels into the kettle.
And then there's the guy on the oven
that'll be his director.
But the kettle is the ultimate guy in control,
because he knows when that bagel's
ready to come out of that kettle.
It's so important.
Narrator: Once the bagels have been properly boiled,
they're scooped over to boards that have been pre-seasoned
with the appropriate flavors, such as poppy, sesame,
or the very popular everything mix.
Scott: Now, are these hot? Yes, they are very hot.
But if you watch me, I'm constantly dipping my hand
in water to remove some of that heat.
Now, this again is where we put on both sides.
So we're seasoning both boards, both sides.
Narrator: After workers carefully coat each bagel,
they move the boards into the oven.
Scott: Now, why we're putting them on boards,
because if we put these bagels in straight,
they would stick to the slate that they're being cooked on.
We put six bagels on a board.
There's 16 boards that'll go into the oven.
And we have a Middleby Marshall. A 1947 oven!
It is the heart and soul of my business.
We're able to produce up to 1,000 bagels an hour on it.
Narrator: After a few rotations around the oven,
the boards are flipped
so the bottom of the bagels can cook evenly.
Then they're ready to be pulled and served to customers.
Scott: See, these are so, look at the color on these bagels.
Look at that beautiful crisp crust.
My son always does the knock test.
Feel that crisp crust.
Look at that steam coming out of that bagel.
Narrator: In total, Utopia Bagels offers 30 kinds of bagels
and various sandwiches, like the bacon, egg, and cheese
or the classic lox.
43 staff members make up Utopia Bagels,
and they all work like a well-oiled machine
to serve the 3,500 customers who visit the shop every week.
Scott: We're busiest on the weekend, Saturday and Sunday.
We could have a line lasting for
eight hours straight.
But you get me crying about my customers,
'cause our fan base is like none other.
It's like a landmark.
Everybody's been coming here for over 50 years.
It's like a home place for everybody.
It's the atmosphere, it's the people, it's the owner.
Everybody's so nice here.
And when you come in, you feel welcomed.
Everything is good. I've been around to other bagel stores,
but there's no place like home.
Scott treats you like family when you come here.
Utopia Bagels is the best.
Scott: The most important thing about our bagels
is right here.
And I get emotional about it, but it's the heart and soul.
Every worker here has heart and soul.
It truly is something I live for
and something we work at.
My passion for making people smile
with our food and what we produce
is a joy for me. It really is.
Oh, yeah, those are the everything bagels coming out.
Look at those colors.