Fresh is the best. Eat them the day you pick them up and you’re getting them exactly how we intended.
A paper bag or a bread box on the counter. Skip the fridge; it stales a bagel faster than the counter does.
Into a freezer-safe Ziploc, either whole or pre-sliced. Whole is what we’d tell you to do, but sliced is there if you want them toaster-ready.
Freezing and reheating whole keeps the moisture locked in, so it comes out closest to the day it was baked.
Halves go straight from the freezer into the toaster. Toast until they’re browned how you like them. Faster, but you give up a little of that fresh-baked texture.
That bit of moisture turns to steam in the oven, softening the crumb while the crust crisps. It’s the difference between a reheated bagel and one that tastes like it just came out.