Poach the bagels carefully to avoid them deflating.
Tap the bottom to see if the bagels are fully cooked. A hollow sound should occur.
Preferably, use special bread flours when making bread.
Coat the top with seeds of your liking: sesame seeds, poppy seeds, etc.
Use white flour for white bread and granary flour for granary bagels. For wholemeal bagels, use 3 parts brown flour to one part white flour.
Add herbs to the dough or chopped dried tomatoes for a savoury version.