When New Jersey native Mike Cooperberg first got to town in 2014, he was astonished at the lack of quality bagels.Cooperberg was used to being able to find them everywhere across New Jersey and New York, and his solution? Homemade bagels. Cooperberg baked his first batch that year and gave samples out to family and friends, who loved them. In 2022, he took his bagel-making operation a step further, labeling it all under the Bagel Coop moniker. Six months ago, the Bagel Coop got a website together.Cooperberg now makes batches of 45 bagels for people all across town. He’s added a professional-grade mixer and new home ovens to his operation. When he first started, all he could muster at a time was 12 bagels. Cooperberg has a total of 11 flavors and two spreads. You can buy plain, everything and more, or an assortment in a bakers dozen. Cooperberg’s secret is high quality ingredients and NO SKIPPING STEPS.“My whole thing is trying to replicate every step of the process that they do in New York,” said Cooperberg. “There’s tons of ways to cut corners, and you’ll see that with a lot of the bagels outside of New York.”Mike Cooperberg forms dough clumps into about 125 gram pieces before rolling them out into form. Credit: Clayton Steward/Park RecordSubpar shops often skip steps like handrolling, the boiling process and more, he said, adding that high-quality bagel shops always go for quality ingredients and a meticulous process. Cooperberg begins the whole process three days before his Thursday and Sunday bake days by mixing his dough. He makes the dough, lets it rest and the ingredients incorporate, then divides the dough into nearly identical portions and rolls them into bagel form. Cooperberg bakes one type of dough and adds the flavor minutiae after they boil on bake day. “The seeds all go on after the boil but before the bake,” added Cooperberg. “I have some cheese bagels — jalapeno cheddar, asiago — those get baked essentially as plain bagels, and then for the last five minutes of the bake I put the cheese and the jalapeños on.”A regular bagel will run $2.50, a specialty bagel, $3 and an assorted baker’s dozen, $26. Cooperberg has done most of his business thus far via word of mouth. He enjoys the small-town, community feel of selling his product that way. Mike Cooperberg separates portions of dough before shaping bagels.Cooperberg said he is enjoying honing his craft at home, especially while he has a young child to look after with his wife. He may decide to open up a storefront in the coming years, though. Cooperberg’s wife helps run the Bagel Coop’s social media accounts.“I like the fact that it’s grown at its own speed,” said Cooperberg. “It’s not that stressful at the moment.”To pay his bills, Cooperberg works as a freelance digital marketer, which in turn allows him to bake from home. He joked that the bagel-making operation is helping pay for the equipment he bought for it. Cooperberg hopes more Parkites decide to take the plunge and try his house-made bagels. He understands the hesitancy with his operation but believes once they become a customer they’ll be hooked. Out of his 11 flavors, Cooperberg recommends his salt bagel paired with his whipped butter spread. “The product kind of speaks for itself,” said Cooperberg. “If you’ve had a New York bagel before, you’d be able to tell the difference between what I’m trying to put out there and what some of these other shops are putting out there.”To arrange a pickup of Cooperberg’s bagels on Thursdays or Sundays, order on the Bagel Coop site. Cooperberg is also happy to accommodate large-scale orders of two dozen bagels or more for big parties. Because Cooperberg is heading out of town for the holidays, he has now, unfortunately, baked his last batch of the year as of Sunday. The post Parkite baking up a reputation out of his home kitchen appeared first on Park Record.