To wonder why bagels have holes

[LEMtheoriginal]

Is there an actual reason? Or did somebody just decode they would? Does the hole contribute to the ovrrall taste/texture?

It just feels like im missing out on bagel tbh.

Good question! Maybe it makes them more fun?

So you can use them for any ring type parties. Olympic themes, engagement / wedding themes, Lord of the rings themes.

It's because they cook faster with the hole and form a nicer crust OP.

I was going to post the reasons... but think other answers will be so much more fun.

You can string them together to make seasonal decorations.

Either that or naked ring toss games in the bedroom...

Because they are sausages of dough shaped into rings. At least decent ones are.
I'm old with a Jewish Dad. He made special trips to specialist delis in NE England in the 60s and 70s to get them. As a consequence, I can't eat the supermarket ones.
There's a yummy Nigella recipe for them too.

So that you can pretend they are doughrings to children that know no different

Because they are a bit sneaky and want you think they are a ring doughnut but when you sink in ......... Boiled bread.

I think cook fast (actually evenly) is the answer. If they were bun shaped then there would be greater variation in how far each point inside was from the nearest surface.

If this is the answer, I'm not sure why bagels are different to other breads though. Apparently bagels are made by initially boiling in water, I wonder why that needs a different strategy (in terms of shape) than purely baking in hot air.

So you can hang them up? I do-not know.

Because you're not gonna want a jam bagel now are you?

Presumably so that they cook through without getting burnt?

And yes you do poach them before baking (absolute pain but nice result)

It's so I can trick my toddler into eating one by telling him it's a toast doughnut.

Also, in a pinch, you can cut one in half and fashion yourself a fetching pair of glasses. Just stick straws in to make the arms and bridge.

I love bagels and was in New York last summer and had a proper authentic bagel. It didn’t have a hole in the middle. It was obviously made with a hole but when the dough was risen it closed in the hole so it was more like a bum with a dimple in the middle.

Bun obv!

No soggy middle.

I used to live near a Brick Lane with the 24 hour Beigel Bake - I’d walk to work and grab a bag on the way in (ridiculously cheap back then) and feed the team.

Wing I preferred the bum description

Actually I tell a lie, it wasn’t totally closed in, there was a tiny hole but nothing like as big as the New York bagels I buy over here.

Was expensive but delicious

So that when you take a big bite out of one that you've filled with masses of smoked salmon and cream cheese the cream cheese has somewhere to go and can squidge into the hole in the middle.

I thought everyone knew that.

So you can make a möbius loop with them and -bore- wow small children.

I have never eaten a bagel.

1. So you can spin them around on your fingers

1. They roll around better with the hole if you drop one

1. More slimming as the hole has no calories

1. Cherry tomato (or brightly coloured vegetable) in the middle looks pretty

1. Pony tail holder

1. Earring

1. To make an impressive centrepiece if you pile them up with a chopstick through the middle on a plate