Guide
New York Bagel vs Montreal Bagel: What's Different
The short answer: they are two different breads, not two accents of one recipe. A New York bagel is larger, savoury and salted, boiled in malted water and baked in a gas oven. A Montreal bagel is smaller, sweeter and unsalted, enriched with egg yolk and oil, boiled in honey sweetened water and baked in a wood fired oven around a big open hole.
If you have only ever had one, the other will surprise you. This is a comparison of the two schools side by side, from the dough to the oven, so you can decide which one you actually want to make. Both start from the same complete bagel method, the firm dough and the boil before the bake, and then split on almost every choice after that.
| New York | Montreal | |
|---|---|---|
| Size and crumb | larger, softer, thicker | smaller, denser, bigger hole |
| Salt in the dough | yes | traditionally none |
| Enrichment | none, lean dough | often egg yolk and oil |
| Boiling water | barley malt | honey |
| Oven | gas or electric | wood fired |
| Fermentation | often cold overnight | usually shorter |
| Sweetness | savoury | noticeably sweeter |
The one thing they share is the detour through boiling water. Take the boil out of either and you no longer have a bagel, you have a roll with a hole.
The dough: salt against egg and oil
The two doughs diverge before a pot of water is anywhere near them. The New York dough is lean: flour, water, yeast, malt and salt, and nothing to soften it. That leanness is the point, because it bakes into the chewy, substantial roll people picture when they say bagel.
The Montreal dough goes the other way. It carries no salt at all, and it is often enriched with egg yolk and a little oil (Tasting Table). That egg and oil is what makes a Montreal bagel more tender than its dense size suggests, and the missing salt is a real, tasteable absence, not an oversight. A Montreal bagel leans on sweetness and char for flavour where a New York bagel leans on salt.
| Dough choice | New York | Montreal | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salt | yes | none | savoury depth vs a sweeter, plainer dough |
| Egg yolk and oil | no | often | tenderness inside a small dense bagel |
| Sugar or sweetener | little | more | pushes the whole bread sweeter |
The boil: malt water against honey water
Every bagel is boiled, but what the two schools put in the water is a big part of why they taste so different. New York boils in water dosed with barley malt, which browns the crust evenly and adds a faint malty depth without much sweetness. Montreal boils in water sweetened with honey, which browns the crust and, more importantly, pushes a clear sweetness into the finished bread (Mashed).
That single swap in the pot, malt for honey, is most of the sweetness difference you taste. The mechanics of the boil, how long and why, are the same for both and are covered in the boiling guide. What changes here is only the flavour the water leaves behind.
The bake: gas oven against wood fire
New York bagels are baked in a conventional gas or electric oven, hot and even. Montreal bagels are baked in a wood fired oven, and that is not a nostalgic detail, it changes the crust. Wood fire runs hotter and less evenly, blistering and charring the surface in a way a home oven cannot easily copy, and it lends a faint smoke that is part of the Montreal character.
At home this is the hardest difference to reproduce. You can get close to a New York bagel in any decent oven. A true Montreal crust wants the wood fire, so a home version is an approximation, and knowing that up front saves you from chasing a char your oven will not give. A very hot oven and a preheated stone or steel get you as near as a kitchen allows.
Size, hole and crumb
Hold the two side by side and the shapes tell the story. The New York bagel is bigger and puffier, with a thicker wall and a modest hole. The Montreal bagel is smaller and flatter, denser in the crumb, and built around a large, generous hole that is a defining feature rather than an afterthought.
The denser Montreal crumb comes partly from a shorter proof, where the New York bagel often gets a cold overnight fermentation that lightens the texture and deepens the flavour. If your mental image of a bagel is the tall, soft, chewy kind, that is New York. If it is the thinner, sweeter, charred ring with a big hole, that is Montreal.
Which one should you make
Neither is the correct bagel. They answer different cravings, so choose by the bagel you actually want.
- Make New York if you want a chewy, savoury, substantial roll that holds up to a heavy topping and a good schmear. It is also the more forgiving one to bake at home, because it does not depend on a wood fire.
- Make Montreal if you want a sweeter, thinner, more charred bagel built around that big open hole, and you are happy to approximate the wood fired crust in a very hot home oven.
Whichever you pick, the fundamentals do not change: a firm, low hydration dough, a real boil, and a hot bake. Get the base method right first, then lean it toward salt and malt for New York, or toward egg, honey and char for Montreal. The rest is which city you are homesick for.
Frequently asked questions
What is the main difference between a New York and a Montreal bagel? New York bagels are larger, savoury and salted, boiled in malt water and baked in a gas oven. Montreal bagels are smaller, sweeter and unsalted, enriched with egg and oil, boiled in honey water and baked in a wood fired oven with a bigger hole.
Why are Montreal bagels sweeter? Because they are boiled in honey sweetened water and carry no salt, while New York bagels are boiled in malt water and salted. The honey in the pot and the absent salt both push the Montreal bagel sweeter.
Do Montreal bagels have salt? Traditionally no. A Montreal bagel is made without salt in the dough, which is one of the clearest differences from a New York bagel and part of why it tastes sweeter.
Can I make a Montreal style bagel at home? You can get close, but the wood fired oven is hard to reproduce. Use a very hot oven with a preheated stone or steel, boil in honey water, and enrich the dough with egg yolk and oil. Expect an approximation of the char, not an exact copy.
Which bagel is chewier? The New York bagel is the thicker, chewier roll. The Montreal bagel is denser and thinner, with a bigger hole, and its egg and oil make it a touch more tender for its size.
Is a New York or Montreal bagel easier to bake at home? New York, because it bakes in a normal oven and does not rely on a wood fire. A convincing Montreal crust really wants the wood fired heat that most home kitchens cannot match.
Two cities, one boiling pot, and a lot of civic pride. Make the one you miss, and salt or sweeten the water accordingly.
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