The Safest Way To Cut A Bagel Without A Slicer

When it comes to brunch fare, few items stand out quite like a bagel. There's just one caveat: when it comes to slicing them, they're a little trickier than one might think. The mere act of slicing a bagel in half can be downright dangerous. 

In 2014, New Yorker Bagels reported on the 2011 statistics of "bagel-related injuries" — and if you didn't know that was a thing, boy, are you in for a surprise! According to the bakery, an eye-watering 2,000 Americans found themselves in the emergency room for slicing, dare we say, everything but the bagel. Moreover, after comparing the stats with other kitchen-related injuries, New Yorker Bagels declared that slicing a bagel ranked among the top five risky things one can do in a kitchen. 

Given just how dangerous cutting a bagel in half can be, it only makes sense that helpful contraptions specifically aimed at slicing bagels have hit the market. The slogan for Larien Products' Bagel Biter is "Preventing bagel slicing injuries since 1994." However, on the off chance that there isn't a Bagel Biter or equivalent lying around, what's a bagel lover to do? Luckily, avoiding nasty cuts doesn't mean avoiding the delicious boiled roll altogether, and there are safe ways to do it. 

A specially-designed bagel slicer is certainly the safest way to snip the roll in two, but there is a way around it. 

According to New Yorker Bagels, the best way to go about it is to "Place the bagel flat side down on a flat surface, flatten your palm on top of it, and carefully slice the bagel horizontally." The Spruce Eats concurs although they take into account that for many, the midway point is where things get a little tricky. 

Their suggestion to combat a bockety bagel is to switch things up halfway through. Lift the bagel up, so the not-yet-cut side rests on the surface, slide a knife into the cut section, hold the already-sliced halves together, and slice straight down. Hey, presto — a perfectly sliced bagel, minus the battle scars! 

It bears mentioning that one non-negotiable, according to New Yorker Bagels and The Spruce Eats, is a bread knife. New Yorker Bagels explains that this is because, where a smooth blade has the potential to slide off the crust (something to avoid at all costs), serrated blades create a "crosscut saw type effect, gripping and cutting into the bagel."

So, there you have it! A safely sliced bagel sans a special slicer, ready to be finished off with your favorite bagel topping. The best part? You won't even have to eat it in the ER.