The oven or toaster oven does not need to be preheated for this method. Bagels are cooked by boiling, then baking, so this method is the closest thing to replicating the original cooking process of the bagel.

You can follow this method up by broiling the bagel in an oven or toaster oven for about 2 minutes to make it crusty if you have the extra time and want a better-tasting bagel.

The fresher the bagels were when you put them in the freezer, the fresher they will taste when you defrost them using this method.

You can leave the bagels in their foil wrap and defrost them using the room temperature method before you want to eat them.

Label the bags with the date you freeze them to remember to eat the bagels in time. You can slice the bagels before you place them in the freezer so you have ready-to-toast slices when you’re ready to eat them. [6] X Research source

Bagels stored in this manner will stay good for at least 6 months. After 6 months, the chances that they will get freezer burn are higher.