PLEASE Explain this to me: "Fork Split" English Muffins or Bagels ?

[Nifty]

Ok, Devil's advocate:

English muffins: Why don't they just split them at the factory with a special fork or whatever that will have all the nooks / crannies there? I mean, we can send a man to the moon, I'm sure they can figure this one out.

Bagels: Ok, I can see how it could make it easier to process if they are all together... BUT the factories have figured out how to slice bread and keep a loaf together, so I imagine keeping a bagel together wouldn't be rocket surgery.

 

[Wannabefree]

It's your lucky day

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/bagel-cutter/

 

[~gd]

I'm not convinced! Try this theory on for size. IMO I buy English muffins not so much for the taste as for the texture, all those nooks and crannies are great for holding your choice of topping on the muffin. Did you ever have a big gob of lemon curd or clotted cream slide off your toast and into your lap? That is what slicing allows but fork split produces MORE nooks and crannies. Anybody that slices an English muffin just proves they are not Proper English Gentlefolk! lol As for fork splitting Bagels I have never heard of that practice [not a bagel fan] I would think the crust and dense texture would make it tough to do. I do know where I used to work that they had so many hand cuts from people trying to slice bagels with knives that they installed 'fool proof' slicers in the break room and posted that to use a knife was a violation of their safety rules. And I also know that knives were outlawed in our schools [under zero weapon tolerance rulesI'll venture to bet that the turnover rate on these items at the store is pretty darn high and that if they are able to get rid of sliced bread before it deteriorates in quality that they could do the same with these other items.

I'm just tired of having to cut my English Muffins & Bagels before putting them in the toaster.

If you don't want them split they make toasters that will take them that way, but I take it you object to the effort it takes to halve these things? ~gd

 

[Emerald]

A loaf of bread is cut sidways and all slices are made at once and the loaf goes straight into the wrapper.. bagels being round get the "sideways" two knife cut as they go down the little conveyer belt and then they go into a stacker which counts and then loads them into the bag. It is hard to convey how this works in words.. but very clear when they show it on tv.
Most English muffins are pre- fork split and you should only have to twist them to get them apart. Now the cheaper store/generic brands are not as easy to do this with.
To find out if the EM you buy are pre split just look for the holes on the side. You can find them every so often that are not split at all.
I make them too and they are super easy.. as easy as pancakes.. But there is a dark downside to making them(and bagels) at home.. when you want one you have make a batch! lol

 

[~gd]

I've never seen fork split bagels around here.. and when I do buy them instead of make them I get the ones from the bakery that I have to cut myself.
The reason that English muffins are "fork split" is to make more of the nooks and crannies that the English folks love so. (Direct quote from my Brit ex) if you cut an English muffin with a knife it doesn't make the nooks and crannies. That way it gets nice and crisp on the split side.
Now the cheap bagels that you buy frozen or in the cooler case have that tiny bit left in the middle so that the machines that make them doesn't let them get separated in the machinery and lose a half.. See what watching "how it's made" gets ya... lol answers to the oddest questions!

Did that help anyone??

This is my understanding as well, I had watched how and why you use a fork to split them ,but could not tell where I had heard this ( I think it was on the Food Network)

Well "Good Eats" has covered English muffins at leat twice. and that putz Elton Brown gave the special muffin spliter fork a thumbs down because it was not a multi-tasker. I have one that I also use as aa slicing guide to make uniform slices.

 

[Emerald]

I've never seen fork split bagels around here.. and when I do buy them instead of make them I get the ones from the bakery that I have to cut myself.
The reason that English muffins are "fork split" is to make more of the nooks and crannies that the English folks love so. (Direct quote from my Brit ex) if you cut an English muffin with a knife it doesn't make the nooks and crannies. That way it gets nice and crisp on the split side.
Now the cheap bagels that you buy frozen or in the cooler case have that tiny bit left in the middle so that the machines that make them doesn't let them get separated in the machinery and lose a half.. See what watching "how it's made" gets ya... lol answers to the oddest questions!

Did that help anyone??

This is my understanding as well, I had watched how and why you use a fork to split them ,but could not tell where I had heard this ( I think it was on the Food Network)

Well "Good Eats" has covered English muffins at leat twice. and that putz Elton Brown gave the special muffin spliter fork a thumbs down because it was not a multi-tasker. I have one that I also use as aa slicing guide to make uniform slices.

His name is Alton Brown and he is not a putz! I have more kitchen gadgets than you have probably ever seen tho! lol but I do not own a bagel slicer.. too much work when I have a bread knife.
A regular fork will split them just right.. you just poke the fork in all the way around the edges and then twist.

 

[~gd]

This is my understanding as well, I had watched how and why you use a fork to split them ,but could not tell where I had heard this ( I think it was on the Food Network)

Well "Good Eats" has covered English muffins at leat twice. and that putz Elton Brown gave the special muffin spliter fork a thumbs down because it was not a multi-tasker. I have one that I also use as aa slicing guide to make uniform slices.

His name is Alton Brown and he is not a putz! I have more kitchen gadgets than you have probably ever seen tho! lol but I do not own a bagel slicer.. too much work when I have a bread knife.
A regular fork will split them just right.. you just poke the fork in all the way around the edges and then twist.

Thank you for correcting me on the proper name. Do you speak yiddish? and I was talking about a splitter fork not a bagel slicer. My best bread knife was originally made to cut Insulation fiberglass on one edge and polyfoam on the other. And I am a gadget freak also, everywhere not just the kitchen. Thanks again!

 

[LynnFisher]

LOL English Muffins were invented to intentionally not be split all the way through so that they have to be forked or torn apart to make an uneven surface. They're not supposed to be even, they're supposed to be unique in order to make each bite a different textural experience. Get yourself an English Muffin splitter so you get a more consistent slice (I bet they work for bagels too)