A friend posted a photo of a batch of pretzels he made and I took on the challenge myself. I’ve never made pretzels before so I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into, but I used the same recipe he used (Bavarian Pretzels - Germanfoods.org), had to add extra water to make the dough work, and made a batch.
They were quite good, but I need kosher salt to make them look and taste right. The baking soda mix was new to me and I think it worked OK.
Anyone make pretzels at home? Better recipes or techniques?
Traditionally only, lye is used to get that nice brown color. Baking soda is a substitute, but doesn’t quite brown as much. That said, you can bake your baking soda to increase alkalinity. The technique is mentioned here.
You also might want to look into buying straight-up pretzel salt. Kosher salt works, but pretzel salt has a courser, less flaky grain to it. The coarser grains of sea salt work fine, too. For example, I have Aurora brand coarse sea salt and the grains look to be about the same size as what you’d get on a big Bavarian pretzel. I assume this is what the recipe was looking for when it wrote “sea salt” without further explanation. You definitely don’t want the fine, sandy sea salt.
From what I hear, pretzel salt is optimal because it’s made up of many tiny grains of salt that are compressed into a cake and then broken into large grains, rather than being crystallized as a homogeneous unit. That makes them crush easily between the teeth, shatter, and spread out in the mouth very evenly, for a very nice salt experience. Sounds like a winner to me.
It is for pretzels, or other foods where the salt is basically intact when you put it in your mouth. The big crunchy crystals give a different chewing/flavor experience than table salt.
I made my batch with table salt, and trust me there is a difference when making pretzels. It needed those big crystals all over the surface that crunch between your teeth.
I should have also added, as an aside on the whole “kosher salt is the same as any other salt” bit, that kosher salt is also (usually) not iodized, so it’s also generally prefered to iodized table salt in stuff like pickling, as well, as iodized salt tends to turn pickles darker. (You can also buy “pickling salt” which is not iodized and also without anti-caking agents.) So, there are at least a couple of reasons one might reach for the kosher salt vs the table salt. In this recipe, clearly crystal size is important, just like in popcorn or French fries, you generally would prefer a finer grade of salt to a larger one.
I go with Lye for the alkaline poach. While baking soda will give an approximation of the browning and flavor changes, it’s really not the same at all. There is something about the alkaline bite that just doesn’t occur with anything less basic.
That said, there are whole hosts of levels of involvement and effort that all provide a great product. It all depends on what you’re looking for and the level of effort one is willing to put in.
I like to use some sourdough starter discard, a much lower hydration (stiffer dough) than I’d use for bread (but more than a bagel) and finish them with a poach in lye. I like a very light salt (I use kosher, but would like to get some proper pretzel salt), and my homemade grainy mustard. Cheese sauce dips are always nice as well. Sesame seeds make a good topping as well, but are not particularly true to style.
I was glad that the recipe I used had baking soda, as I had all the ingredients I needed in the house. What’s the technique and ingredients for a lye soak?
Everything is the same up until the poach. Instead of dipping into a baking soda solution, you dip into a lye solution. 1 part lye, 20 parts water (by volume so 1/2 cup to 10cups water works). Add the lye to the water.
[ul]
[li]Make the pretzels and put them for a final rise.[/li]li in the last 30 minutes of the final rise, put them in the fridge. This will dry them out and give an even better finish.[/li][li]Using safety glasses and gloves, dip the pretzel into the solution, let it sit for 15 seconds, flip and remove after 15 more.[/li][li]Place on your baking sheet (or oiled parchment). Do not allow the solution to contact any aluminum baking sheets.[/li][li]Cook as per your recipe.[/li][/ul]
The browning will amaze you, and there will be a tang that other home made pretzels won’t have.
I bought a very large bottle as the shipping was the same for a small amount, or a 2lb bottle. I marked it as dangerous very heavily and keep it with other potentially hazardous chemicals in my home.
Any leftovers can be poured down the sink with a good flushing of clear water. The worst that happens with this disposal method is a cleaning of the drains. (Drano is not much more than lye)