Let's make pretzels!

[Kittish]

Decided to try making some pretzels, because who doesn't like pretzels, right? Was originally going for the crunchy style, but wound up with somewhat soft ones. They are very, very tasty. It's been difficult to stay out of them, otherwise I won't have any left to take to gaming. I did sticks and bits, next time I'm going to see if i can get them to do flat rounds (cracker style) and see if I can't get those to crisp up properly. I think chocolate coated pretzels are going to be in this year's Christmas box.

[AccountingDrone]

Did you boil them in alkaline water then bake them?

[Miss Maple Leaf]

Recipe please?

I love pretzels, both hard and soft.

[Kittish]

AccountingDrone- yep, poached them for about 15 seconds (which turns out to maybe be a bit too long, next time going to cut that back to 5 seconds) in water with baking soda and a bit of brown sugar.

I used the recipe at Serious Eats, but cut down the baking temp to 275. I also rolled the dough out much thinner than the author did, hoping for crunchy pretzels. After 35 minutes they were gorgeous dark brown, but not really crunchy. The skin is kind of tough, but I think that's because 15 seconds was too long to poach them. I'm also going to see if baking the soda really makes a difference (I did do it for the first batch).

[Miss Maple Leaf]

I used the recipe at Serious Eats...

Much obliged!

Can't wait to try it out.

[lordlundar]

I'm also going to see if baking the soda really makes a difference (I did do it for the first batch).

I'll tell you right now it will and you won't like the results if you don't do it. The application of a higher than neutral Ph (professionals use a weak lye solution) breaks down certain protein structures on the surface which allows them to brown much more rapidly. Without that break down you'll never get them brown enough to look good without burning the pretzels to a crisp (the break down also causes the surface to be less solid aka gooey which allows the salt to stick on it)

As for the time, I would say the issue that you're poaching them not for too long, but too short of a time. you're getting some breakdown of the proteins but not enough for the crunchy aspect you're looking for. The solution from Good Eats is 1/3 cup baking soda for every 5 cups of water, no brown sugar (which can actually throw off the results due to it being acidic which would neutralize the soda and could also be part of the reason you're not getting the crunchy crust) and a 30 second poach.

[Aethian]

....planning on using this to make pizza.

[Sunshine]

We did today... Couldn't roll them into actual pretzel shape but they taste delicious

[Kittish]

Now I have soft pretzels in the oven, made with Alton Brown's recipe. They smell awesome already, and they look gorgeous. I baked my soda again for this recipe.

Tomorrow night I may try crunchy ones again, and I'll probably use your suggestion, lordlundar and increase the amount of time I poach them. I'm also going to try dividing the dough into quarters and roll each piece out into a sheet, then use a pizza cutter to cut it into sticks.

Here's a picture of the finished first batch. I wound up making a second batch with the pretzels a lot smaller to take to gaming night.

Something I learned about home made soft pretzels- don't store them in a closed container at room temperature. The salt melts and leaves little zit-looking bumps all over the pretzels and the skin gets just a little gooey. A few minutes in an oven would probably fix the gooey part (ETA- it did).

[Kittish]

The small pretzels were a huge hit Saturday at gaming. Even the people who said they don't care much for soft pretzels kept going back for another one. The recipe made two dozen small(ish) pretzels, and none of them came back home with us.

[BearLeeBadenaugh]

Ahh, the fun of making pretzels the "right" way. The alkaline bath is what gives pretzels the stronger chewy crust. I'll have to dig up my notebook, see if I can't give any pointers on making them crunchy.

Baking soda water works decently, but the traditional method was with caustic lye(sodium hydroxide). Had to special order food grade lye when I did a pretzel project in culinary school. Was an interesting item to try and find. Was told by one clerk, "meh, just use the cleaning product, it's good enough for the tweakers." Wasn't going to do that, even if I felt ok cutting the corners for my own consumption, I was being graded! Pretty much the top criteria for food made @ school was that it had to be edible, using cleaning lye instead of food grade would have been an automatic fail.

[Ophbalance]

Gah... this makes me miss the pretzel place we had in PA. It was a Bavarian place that'd been there for decades, and it folded last year. But they had what amounted to a pretzel rotisserie. The pretzels would slow roll around to be dipped in solution, and then cooked on their trip back up the machine. And when they folded my immediate thought was "I want that machine!!!". I've never been able to find one in any kitchen store listing, and the taste of them, I've never found anything close.

[Kittish]

I'd appreciate any tips or hints on making crunchy pretzels BearLee.

Of possible mild amusement is that I will, at some point in the indeterminate future, be acquiring a supply of food-grade lye because I intend to learn how to make soap. I'm amassing the gear for it on a piecemeal basis, here and there as I have a few extra bucks. I think I'll just HAVE to try at least one batch of pretzels with a lye bath once I do have some.

(Of course, I could always just make my own lye. I have access to a supply of clean mostly hardwood ash.)

[BearLeeBadenaugh]

Making your own lye, nice! I learned how, just for gits n shiggles and to say I could, but I'd much rather buy the Lye. It's pretty cheap, along the lines of $2 a lb.

Here's the site I've ordered from in the past http://www.essentialdepot.com/servle...ade/Categories

[lordlundar]

Welp, just finished up a batch of my own. Just waiting for them to cool and I learned I can't roll dough to save my life.

Don't mind the grainy quality. I took the picture with my 3DS.