And when her stomach growls in the afternoon, she grabs a bagel. She's not alone. Americans consumed almost 1 billion bagels last year, according to the American Institute of Baking, and the number is rising as chains of bagel shops add outlets across the country. Bagels are booming, powered by their low-fat appeal and the development of softer varieties more pleasing to the common palate. Hodge and her roommate, Kristin Miller, lunching at a Jacobs Bros. bagel shop in downtown Chicago, said they like bagels because they're filling, low in fat and come in lots of flavors.
Many bagel chains use steam-injected ovens in a faster, cheaper process that produces softer bagels.
He said New Yorkers who literally cut their teeth on bagels sold at family-owned delicatessens have no taste for softer, steamed bagels. But there's no arguing with the success of the pillowy, steamed variety. I prefer them because they're doughier. Great American Bagel President Wayne Flatley defended the steamed bagels his company produces. The nation's largest bagel chain, Breugger's Bagel Bakery Corp. of Burlington, Vt., is another traditionalist.