# Pretzels--Can't for the LIFE of me discern the APPEAL **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 21, 2007, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretzels-cant-for-the-life-of-me-discern-the-appeal/393160 "2007-02-21T23:13:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rebecca\_DiMwitter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a87d85/32.png) [@Rebecca\_DiMwitter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebecca_DiMwitter)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretzels-cant-for-the-life-of-me-discern-the-appeal/393160/1 "2007-02-21T23:13:20Z")
I’m not talking about big, fluffy, squishy, yeasty, warm, salty, smells-like-the-good-childhood-we-all-deserved pretzels, but rather those nasty, quasi-cardboardish, enrobed by slimy brown tree-barkish pretzel STICKS that come in bags of 2 or 3 thousand, ready to be noshed a handful of twiggy stems at a time. What’s to like? OK, they’re a cheap salt source when you gotta have some salt, I suppose, and if downed with enough beer and mustard dipping sauce, they approach something resembling a foodlike product, and I’ll admit they lack the significant calories of their huge, puffy, ambrosial cousins…does anything else redeem them? Are they simply a way to get dipping sauces into your mouth? Gah! Who buys those nasty things anyway? ---
**Author:** ![Shai\_tan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Shai\_tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shai_tan)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretzels-cant-for-the-life-of-me-discern-the-appeal/393160/2 "2007-02-21T23:19:55Z")
You preach it sister! I can’t stand pretzels. (Though I too am okay with the big bready ones). ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretzels-cant-for-the-life-of-me-discern-the-appeal/393160/3 "2007-02-21T23:24:56Z")
Salty _and_ crunchy! What’s not to love? ---
**Author:** ![Montgomery0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/0ea827/32.png) [@Montgomery0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montgomery0)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretzels-cant-for-the-life-of-me-discern-the-appeal/393160/4 "2007-02-21T23:29:13Z")
They’re great for building little salty log cabins. Especially figuring out how to keep the logs stuck together. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretzels-cant-for-the-life-of-me-discern-the-appeal/393160/5 "2007-02-21T23:33:21Z")
I like to melt a hunk of white chocolate, sometimes milk chocolate, and dip pretzels in them. The pretzel provides the vehicle for salt and sugar and tastes oh so good. I’ll also put the mini-sticks in vanilla ice cream for the same reason. I’ll also nosh on them plain just to get a relatively healthy salt fix. But yeah, unlike the fresh soft pretzels, there’s not a heckuva lot of innate taste. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretzels-cant-for-the-life-of-me-discern-the-appeal/393160/6 "2007-02-21T23:36:18Z")
Pretzels are merely a salt delivery system with crunch. Rather like chips, but without the grease. Or potatoes. Chocolate dipped pretzels are also quite good, the salty and sweet tastes combining to create an oddly appealing combination of flavours. Of course, if you’re not a bit fan of things salty, pretzels probably won’t really seem like such a bright idea. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretzels-cant-for-the-life-of-me-discern-the-appeal/393160/7 "2007-02-21T23:45:06Z")
I get the multi grain sesame pretzel nuggets and down them with tonic water. Mmmm…bittersweet and salty. ---
**Author:** ![tbdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@tbdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tbdi)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretzels-cant-for-the-life-of-me-discern-the-appeal/393160/8 "2007-02-22T00:08:12Z")
It’s those big, squishy, mushy things that are pretty much inedible. The little, crispy, crunchy, salty ones are the best! ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretzels-cant-for-the-life-of-me-discern-the-appeal/393160/9 "2007-02-22T00:19:15Z")
Pretzel nuggets are the best form of pretzel delivery. **Rebecca** , repent! Try some of those gourmet pretzel nuggets that have fun flavors. You just may fall back in love with…the mighty pretzel. You’ve just made yourself one of my ex-favorite microposters on the Dope. If I were Stephen Colbert, I’d have you on notice, young lady. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretzels-cant-for-the-life-of-me-discern-the-appeal/393160/10 "2007-02-22T00:41:08Z")
Love 'em myself. I seem to need a nice big CRUNCH after dinner. I think a lot of it has to do with the texture. I make my own sometimes too. But they turn out more like some sort of salt biquits that could not rightly be called pretzels. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretzels-cant-for-the-life-of-me-discern-the-appeal/393160/11 "2007-02-22T00:42:59Z")
Pretzels make good “iron rations” for marathon gaming/intoxication/camping sessions. ---
**Author:** ![Alpine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpine/32/17813_2.png) [@Alpine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpine)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretzels-cant-for-the-life-of-me-discern-the-appeal/393160/12 "2007-02-22T02:50:55Z")
We made soft pretzels for Superbowl, and they were actually a little _too_ salty. Still yummilicious, though. As for “other” pretzels, I like 'em. Pretzel goldfish, large sourdough crunchies, whatever. Mmmm, salt’n’cardboard. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretzels-cant-for-the-life-of-me-discern-the-appeal/393160/13 "2007-02-22T03:31:54Z")
The big ones are just little loaves of bread with salt dumped on top. The only have an inferior, niche role in the world. The little ones real. My secret to riches is going to be inventing pretzels there are just crunchier than the rest so that a few neurons spike when someone first tasted them. I am also going to work on the extract best salt tread like the things tire companies research. ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretzels-cant-for-the-life-of-me-discern-the-appeal/393160/14 "2007-02-22T04:06:46Z")
I like the rold gold tiny twists these days. Like others have said, salty crunchy goodness! And the sticks - what you do is get maybe a dozen or so and get them into a bundle. Then you put the bundle in your mouth with one end in one cheek and the other end in the other cheek. Then suck. After the saliva/salt fest then bite down and crunch away. Mr. Salty were the ones from my childhood. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_in\_second\_hand\_clothing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9d8465/32.png) [@wolf\_in\_second\_hand\_clothing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_in_second_hand_clothing)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretzels-cant-for-the-life-of-me-discern-the-appeal/393160/15 "2007-02-22T06:48:13Z")
I don’t usually like pretzels, but I _did_ have quite the [Take 5](http://www.hersheys.com/products/details/take5.asp) habit going for a while. ---
**Author:** ![Sharky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@Sharky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sharky)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretzels-cant-for-the-life-of-me-discern-the-appeal/393160/16 "2007-02-22T08:37:05Z")
[QUOTE=mack] I like the rold gold tiny twists these days. Like others have said, salty crunchy goodness! [/QUOTE] Oh, hell yes - Rold Gold Tiny Twists are the tastiest. Other brands taste like cardboard compared to them. They are a perfect snack food for munching while watching a movie or a football game - no greasy fingers, bite size (so no crumbs), and they go great with beer. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretzels-cant-for-the-life-of-me-discern-the-appeal/393160/17 "2007-02-22T08:53:58Z")
Never have liked pretzals. I will eat them in preference to peanuts (which do annoying things to my gut) but only one or two, just for politeness. Can’t see what the appeal of them is, either. Other than they’re _traditional_ somehow for booze-ups. ---
**Author:** ![Rebecca\_DiMwitter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a87d85/32.png) [@Rebecca\_DiMwitter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebecca_DiMwitter)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretzels-cant-for-the-life-of-me-discern-the-appeal/393160/18 "2007-02-22T14:56:12Z")
[QUOTE=Least Original User Name Ever] Pretzel nuggets are the best form of pretzel delivery. **Rebecca** , repent! Try some of those gourmet pretzel nuggets that have fun flavors. You just may fall back in love with…the mighty pretzel. You’ve just made yourself one of my ex-favorite microposters on the Dope. If I were Stephen Colbert, I’d have you on notice, young lady. [/QUOTE] You AREN’T Stephen Colbert??? You have no idea how disillusioned I am, sweetcheeks. I will admit that I have eaten and sorta liked the spicy pretzel nuggets (can’t recall, are they called “fire nuggets” or something of the like?) but then they have had plenty o’bad fat added to make that delicious seasoning stick to 'em, and naturally, fat & seasoning add all kinds of tastebud-inspiring deliciousness, even to cardboard. But I doubt I’d really ever go and BUY some of these for personal enjoyment. I think it’s partially a texture thing to me—that slimy outside combined with that chalky, splintery inside just doesn’t make the salt hit worthwhile to me. And I do love me some SALT, contrary to popular belief! Rather swallow my sea salt on the outside of a full margarita glass, however. Here’s to ya, **LOUNE**! ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretzels-cant-for-the-life-of-me-discern-the-appeal/393160/19 "2007-02-22T15:48:51Z")
There’s nothing quite as good as getting a fistful of the pretzel sticks and eating them one by one right from your fist. It’s like being a kid again! Does anyone know what ever happened to Mr. Salty? Those were the BEST. Now I’m having to get my pretzel fixes with Rold Gold…or Hanover’s Sourdough Nibblers (them’s is YUMMY!) ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretzels-cant-for-the-life-of-me-discern-the-appeal/393160/20 "2007-02-22T16:16:03Z")
I like to dip pretzels in peanut butter. Or use straight pretzels as handles for cheese cubes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretzels-cant-for-the-life-of-me-discern-the-appeal/393160.md?page=2)