Big, Bad Pretzels...Without Using Lye!

Ok, this is going to make about 25 or so big, bad pretzels. Cut or add to the recipe as needed for yourself. I use this in my bakery and it's a fantastic way to make a nice, dark, glossy pretzel without using lye and the dangers associated with it.

Oven: 350 degrees. Maybe more or less depending on location, humidity, temp inside the house and outside as well and your height above sea level.

3630 grams flour
2oz salt
6oz sugar
9oz margarine or butter
2 cups honey or corn syrup
3 TBsp vanilla extract
2.5oz yeast
1.5 cups skim milk powder

Rock Salt and/or Poppy Seeds, Sesame Seeds or whatever you desire for the topping.

The Bath...

.5 cup of baking powder and 6 cups of water. You'll no doubt refine this to your liking tho. Boil the water and BP in a large sauce pan if possible. If not, a pot will do. gently lower the pretzels into the water (I'm guessing most won't have the equipment I do so use a spatula) for about 30 seconds and remove to place on a well oiled baking sheet or parchment paper.

Let cool and then,

Egg wash...

1 egg whisked and mixed with 2 TBSP water. Just brush them generously with the mixture, then sprinkle your rock salt/seeds on top to your taste.

Here's a short vid I found on forming the pretzel. There are more sources for twisting these things so go searching for your favorite. If you find something interesting, post it here. Once you get the hang of twisting a pretzel, it becomes a natural movement so practice, practice, practice...and when you are done that, practice some more...


Let rise for 1-2 hours. Try for double or even triple the size. The time will vary depending on your location, humidity, temp inside the house and outside as well and your height above sea level...seriously. Can't stress this factor enough because if it doesn't work as well as you want, ask someone else in the area that bakes. They may know of some tips if you live in Florida as opposed to Arizona.

Now BAKE!

Looks good in the hand!

And on the pan.

In the basket...

And on the shelf...


Please post any pics you can of your pretzels.

Next time, what we so lovingly call...The Cinna-Monster!


Peace!

reply to post by jude11


Hey fellow Twister ! I owned a pretzel bakery for 6 years ! I was putting out 1200 a day at its peak and I twisted them all on my own ! It was a traditional German recipe with sodium hydroxide as a dip and I also made cinnamon sticks ! That was 15 years ago , I often get the urge to open up another bakery . I always wanted to beat the biggest pretzel record !!!

Originally posted by rick004
reply to post by jude11

 

Hey fellow Twister ! I owned a pretzel bakery for 6 years ! I was putting out 1200 a day at its peak and I twisted them all on my own ! It was a traditional German recipe with sodium hydroxide as a dip and I also made cinnamon sticks ! That was 15 years ago , I often get the urge to open up another bakery . I always wanted to beat the biggest pretzel record !!!

Well you are the one to offer advice then!

We recently added these in our shop and they are doing well. I want to get the skin a little tougher so I'm going with a little more baking powder and a little longer baking time.

Any other tips from a fellow baker will be appreciated. Have a look at my bread thread in my signature. I'm sure you'll find some interesting tidbits there as well.

Peace

reply to post by jude11


How long do they rest after twisting them before dipping them and baking ? One thing I started to do was I always had about 500 raw pretzels in the freezers in case of a mixer or equipment breakdown ! And every few weeks I would use them up and replenish the freezer with fresh ones. I would take them out in the morning and let them thaw and rise about 2 hours ( the time it took me make my first batch of pretzels ) I found the frozen product had a thicker skin and didn't soak up the dip as much as fresh dough . Another trick would be to blow air with fans on them before dipping them ? I experimented with all kinds of different pretzels , rye flour , whole wheat , the cinnamon pretzels with coarse sugar were a big seller ! Any other questions you have I'd be more than happy to help with ! I always regret closing it down but I couldn't find staff that wanted to start work at 2 am !! All my customers wanted the products by 8am

Originally posted by rick004
reply to post by jude11

 

How long do they rest after twisting them before dipping them and baking ? One thing I started to do was I always had about 500 raw pretzels in the freezers in case of a mixer or equipment breakdown ! And every few weeks I would use them up and replenish the freezer with fresh ones. I would take them out in the morning and let them thaw and rise about 2 hours ( the time it took me make my first batch of pretzels ) I found the frozen product had a thicker skin and didn't soak up the dip as much as fresh dough . Another trick would be to blow air with fans on them before dipping them ? I experimented with all kinds of different pretzels , rye flour , whole wheat , the cinnamon pretzels with coarse sugar were a big seller ! Any other questions you have I'd be more than happy to help with ! I always regret closing it down but I couldn't find staff that wanted to start work at 2 am !! All my customers wanted the products by 8am

I don't have a walk-in so the 500 wouldn't work here.

They rest about 1 hour before the bath, sometimes more, sometimes less depending on the weather. They are looking and selling well so I won't mess with them but I'll always experiment tho...

That's what it's all about right?

Peace

Have You tried real pretzel dip (sodium hydroxide ) ? It gives more of the pretzel taste than baking soda !

Originally posted by rick004
Have You tried real pretzel dip (sodium hydroxide ) ? It gives more of the pretzel taste than baking soda !

Trying to stay away from that as I live in a very health conscious community and to mention that I use lye in their food wouldn't go over very well at all. Many don't know what it is and most associate it with getting rid of a body or mixing cement.

Peace

reply to post by jude11


It's really not that bad ! Actually way back when in europe they gave patients in the hospital with stomach problems , soft pretzels ! It would settle their stomach problems ? How do You make the dough ropes to twist ? When I first started I would roll out the dough into a rectangle shape then cut strips with a pizza cutter , as the bakery grew I bought a bun divider and a used baguette roller it made the perfect ropes for twisting !!