Real Pretzels

by t.rohner

8.9K14714

Intro: Real Pretzels

How to make real Pretzels, that look and taste perfect.


After seeing different pretzel instructables made with sodium bicarbonate and too soft doughs, i thought i write a instructable for "real" pretzels, that look and taste like the ones from good bakeries.

STEP 1: Preferment

The preferment is enhancing the flavour a little bit.

If you don't have the time or want to keep it simpler, you can make the dough without a preferment.

I made it both ways, but i mostly ommit it.

Pour the

  • 100g tepid water in a bowl and add
  • 1g dried yeast and dissolve it by stirring. Then add
  • 50g Wheat flour
  • 50g Spelt flour. Mix and then cover the bowl.

Let it sit at room temperature for about 1-2 hours. You should see first fermenting activities. (It expands and bubbles)

Then put it in the fridge for around 22 hours.

STEP 2: Mixing / Kneading the Dough

With a preferment,

  • add the cold preferment
  • 80g cold water
  • 90g cold milk
  • 3g dried yeast
  • 20g cold butter
  • 6g dried malt exract / sugar
  • 50g Spelt flour
  • 350g Wheat flor
  • 15g salt

Without preferment

  • 180g cold water
  • 90g cold milk
  • 4g active dried yeast
  • 20g cold butter
  • 6g malt extract / sugar
  • 100g Spelt flour
  • 400g Wheat flour
  • 15g saltz

Mix the ingredients, then knead the dough for 5-8 minutes on a low speed in your kneading machine.

Then knead for another 5-8 minutes at a higher speed. (about double the minimum speed)

Double the kneading times, if you need or want to knead by hand.

Don't add water, when you think the dough is too stiff. It's really a unusually stiff dough.

At the end of kneading, the dough should be at room temperature 20-23° C or 72° F.

Keep it covered at room temperature for 30 minutes.

STEP 3: Dividing the Dough

Take the dough and divide it into 10 pieces of the same weight. (Should be around 80g)

If you want bigger Pretzels, you can of course divide it into 8 bigger chunks of 100g for example.


Form the pieces into balls and cover at room temperature for around 10-15 minutes to relax the dough.

STEP 4: Forming the Pretzels

Roll the dough balls into strands of around 70cm or 27 inches. If the dough rips at the surface, you can roll it in steps and let it relax a a couple of minutes in between.(cover it with cling wrap)

As you can imagine, you should form tapered strands with a belly in the middle to get the typical Pretzel form. (or however you like it...)

Form the Pretzels and press the ends pretty hard onto the belly of the Pretzel.

Put them on baking paper. (I started with standard baking paper, but the lye makes the Pretzels stick to it. So i bought multiple use Teflon baking sheets. This works much better.)

Then let the formed Pretzels rise for 90-120 minutes covered at room temperature.

STEP 5: Cold Storage and Skin Buildup

This step is essential for the "real" character of the crust and the stability while applying the lye.

You need to put the Pretzels into a 4-6° C 39-42° F fridge uncovered for 2-8 hours.

During this time, the Pretzels rise a little bit more and the desired skin is forming.


STEP 6: Applying the Lye

I want to stress, that real caustic soda makes a big difference in the taste and the optics of a pretzel.


Attention

You need to be aware, caustic soda isn't kids stuff. (alltough its only 4% concentration)

Use protective gear. I use nitrile gloves and eye protection.

If you get the solution on your skin, wash it instantly with plenty of water.

The lye feels slippery/soapy on your skin because it's dissolving it... so it's a good idea to reduce the concentration by diluting it with lots of water as quickly as possible.

If you didn't wear eye protection and get it in your eyes, wash them with lots of water and consult a doctor.

Allways dilute caustic soda by adding it to water and not by adding water to concentrated lye.

A commenter pointed out, that you shouldn't use aluminum with caustic soda. Caustic soda corrodes aluminum. Thanks for that.


So i organized a flat plastic container that withstands the lye. (most food grade containers should)

I added 1.5 liters of cold water and then 60g of caustic pellets in order to get a 4% solution.

In the future, i will only make 1 liter with 40g pellets or even less and use a brush or turn the Pretzels to cover the whole surface.

Since my container has a tight cover, i can use the lye multiple times. (I don't think microrganisms thrive in lye...)


I dip the Pretzels in the lye with a skimmer and put it on the baking sheet until it's full. (half the batch)

Then i score the Pretzels on the back of the belly and sprinkle Pretzel salt on them. Of course, you can sprinkle poppy seeds or sunflower seeds or mustard seeds or whatever you like on the Pretzels.

After that, put the first batch into the preheated oven.

After the first batch is almost baked, i take the second batch out of the fridge and repeat the above steps.


About Pretzel salt:

The real Pretzel salt is different, than coarse sea salt. It's softer to chew and has less salt per volume.

The problem is, i wasn't able to source it over normal channels in household packaging sizes.

You can buy it from a big retailer, but only in 50lb bag size... Cargill Pretzel Salt M

I finally asked my lokal bakery and they gave me some 300g for free. 300g goes a long way.

So if you can organize Pretzel salt, use it. If not, you can use coarse salt, but it's not the same.

STEP 7: Baking

Heat up your oven to 220° C 430° F and bake for around 12 minutes.

After 2 and 4 minutes, vent the steam by opening the oven for 1-2 seconds.

Maybe you need to adjust the baking time a little bit to achieve the correct browning. (When this happens, adjust the oven temperature for future batches)

The best addition to Pretzels IMHO is Obatzda.

https://www.instructables.com/Obatzda-Bavarian-savory-cheese-spread/

12 Comments

WUVIE 1 year ago

Wow, thank you for sharing this! What a great Instructable, with wonderful tips and details. The images really make it seem as though we can taste the pretzels through the screen. Nice!

TimW93 1 year ago

Greetings from Lititz, PA, settled by Moravians in 1742, and blessed with the first commercial pretzel bakery in the USA in 1861, although pretzels were a common treat well before then. We know good pretzels here in Lancaster County, and this is a GOOD recipe for the real thing.
p.s. Watch out for the real fat ones - they're good for keeping your dentist in business!

tantris 1 year ago

Couple tips for beginners:
1. Don't use aluminum pans - the lye will ruin your pans and the aluminum will end up in the pretzel. Also be careful with coated pans. Lye is a good paint stripper. I wouldn't use any of these painted/enameled so-called low stick pans. Best is steel pans. The perfect pretzel pan has little dimples to keep it from sticking to the pan (kind of like these steak pans with ridges), but I haven't managed to get / make one yet.
2. Let the pretzel drip off a little before you put it on the pan and don't use too much oil on the pan or you're making soap.
3. If this instructable is too scary, start small and make some buns instead. Coat some of them in the 4% lye solution and notice the taste difference ;)

ralph.peteranderl 1 year ago

For shaping the Bretzels:
1 - After shaping the dough strand, lay it out in a U shape, with the opening of the U towards you.
2 - Cross your arms, and with your right hand, grab the left end of the U while you grab the right end with your left hand - your left arm should be over your right arm. The bottom of the U should rest on the working surface
3 - Now, without letting go of the ends, uncross your arms and cross them the other way - your right arm should now be on top, and the arms of the former U should be twisted
4 - Now bring the ends that your are holding up to the bow of the U and push them into the dough
5 - Voila, you have a Bretze

bgddisco1992 1 year ago

The Pretzel salt thing looks like a nice idea for a reseller on Ebay or Etsy.

ralph.peteranderl 1 year ago

While no bacteria will grow in your lye solution (No food, and it's a 1 M solution, so pH 14), there is a problem with CO2 being absorbed from the atmosphere. You end up with a Na2CO3 solution, i.e., you are back to baking soda. Better to make the solution fresh than to keep around a tub full of caustic lye.

thescientistformerlyknownasNaegeli 1 year ago

Cool - I ha nu dä Hänseler gseh will I i dä Pharma schaffä ... und dä ha ni no dänkt das muäs än Schwizer si .... die Maillard Reaktion chunt top im basischen Bereich ... geseht würklich guät us ... Grüessli vo Stäfa

t.rohner 1 year ago

Haha, jo genau.
PHEUR Qualität. A chli tüür, aber me brucht jo nöd so viel.
Grüess us em Rhy Valley (Altstätten)