Pretzel Dough - Bread Machine vs Hand Kneaded

Every year, my husband and I have a “script” discussion (you know what that is if you are married or have been with your significant other long enough) about an appliance that is stored in our pantry.

That appliance is the bread maker.

Don’t get me wrong – it’s a very nice bread maker and I want to keep it.  The conversation usually goes something like this:
Me: “That bread maker is taking up space in the pantry.  When was the last time we used it?  Let’s put it in the garage.”
My husband: “But if we put it in the garage, then we won’t make bread with it.”
Me, closing my eyes and asking again: “When was the last time we used it?”
Husband: “Oh – A few months ago….”

So –
The last time we used the bread maker, I put a sticky note on it with the date. 
That is when the menacing- sounding voice in my head said “Hah!”
The date on the note said May 21, 2011.  I really thought it had been much longer than that.  I remember telling myself back then that the bread maker had a one-year chance of living in that pantry.  If we didn’t use it in one year, it was going in the garage.

I mentioned the scoochmaroo Challenge to my husband about fermenting, and the first thing he thought of was making something with the bread maker.
(Argh I thought; there goes another year of that thing in the pantry.)

Thus I give credit to my husband for helping me come up with a Challenge entry and subsequently, a Contest entry.

For those wives and loved ones who have that “I-want-to-use-it-more-than-once-a-year” bread maker, perhaps this instructable can help you.

I also really wanted to know if the same recipe that was in the bread maker’s book could be used without getting out the bulky bread maker.
The question I asked myself to answer at the end of this challenge: Will the end product be the same if the pretzel dough recipe for the bread machine is used and the dough is hand-kneaded?

I was pleasantly surprised at the answer.  Read on for tips and notes I discovered about fermenting, yeast and making pretzels.

The time to make eight to sixteen pretzels is about 3-1/2 hours total.  One of those hours is so that the egg yolk comes to room temperature.

Step 1: Ingredients and Tools

Ingredients for a 1.5 LB loaf size:

• 1-1/4 cups Water, 80-degrees F/27-degrees C
• 1 room temperature Egg Yolk
• 1 TBL Vegetable Oil
• 2 TBL Sugar
• 1-1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/8 tsp White Pepper
• 3-1/2 cups Bread Flour, plus extra for flouring a surface during rolling phase
• 2-1/4 tsp Active Dry Yeast

Glaze Ingredients:

• 1 Egg White
• 1 TBL Water

Topping(s):

• Coarse Kosher Salt
• Variations for Toppings are described in Step 5 and can include

o Cinnamon and Sugar
o Parmesan Cheese and/or Garlic Powder
o Parmesan Cheese and Pepperoni
o Sesame Seeds (not pictured)

Select “DOUGH” Cycle on Bread Machine

Tools for recipe:

• Kitchen thermometer
• Measuring cup(s)
• Measuring spoons
• Cookie sheets – Will have to grease them
• Area to place flour and roll dough to make pretzels (I use waxed paper or parchment paper on my counter top for easy cleanup)
• Optional: Egg Separator (Not shown because I don’t have one)
• Optional: Pastry brush for glaze (Again, not shown because I don’t have one.  After this experiment though, I might get one.)

Bread maker Tools:

• Bread Machine – Ours is an older model Breadman Ultimate - Here is a Link to the Newer Model

Hand-Kneading Tools:

• Bowl to mix and rise dough in
• Towel to cover dough while it rises