Happy New Year to everyone!

Around my native town Freiburg in south-west Germany we have thae habit to eat some huge and elaborately decoreted brezels made of sweet dough for breakfast on New Year's Day. (Usually they are made by professional bakers.)

I made  some of them in the past, here some impressions from this year's bake.

A little mouse made by my wife, peeking into the future:

The somewhat more conventional Neujahrs-Brezel I made:

I used DiMuzio's sweet challah dough - I love to work with it, and it comes pretty close to what bakers use for these brezels in Germany.

The problem with making these is worktop space - the strand for a 600g brezel is about 1.3 metres long!

Best Wishes,

Juergen

In honor of National Pretzel Day in the US (yesterday):

Hi

One of my favorite recipes I have found here is

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/4716/amish-soft-pretzel-recipe-request

However, I am not satified with using a cookie sheet to bake these. The bottoms sometims stick or come out improperly cooked. I was thinking of switching to a pizza screen or perforated baking sheet. Any suggestions?

I am hesitant to cook these on my baking stone (Williams Sonoma one) because I do not wish to expose it repeatedly to the pretzel dip (baked Baking Soda and water). I hope to switch to lye in the future and want to get away from aluminum as well.

I found a great pretzel recipe here by Floydm The crumb was crunchy and the real bread was chewy. Again, This is a great pretzel recipe and I recommend every one to try it. Thank you Floydm.

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/pretzels

I also converted the measurements to grams. Find the conversions below.

      1 tsp Active dry yeast ( 3g)  The yeast ran out, it was actually less 1 tsp.

      1 tbsp malt powder (12 g)

      2-3 cups of King Arthur bread flour (351g = 2cups+25 grams).

      1 tsp salt ( 6g)

      1 cup of warm milk ( one minute in microwave) (240g)

Cold baking soda method :http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/pretzels#comment-136086

         Happy baking,       

         Hajime

I'm on a mission to perfect Pretzel Rolls and Buns...and see just what else on earth I can "Pretzel."

I know pretzel dough requires a lot of flour in order to be chewy...but the yield for rolls and buns is very disappointing.

I thought I'd try an Italina Bread recipe, something big and high-rise and just "pretzel" the dough before baking (dunk in baking soda bath). I reasoned that this type of bread expands more and so perhaps I will end up with a bigger more sandwhich-like result, that still tastes like a pretzel.

But now that I'm studying the ingredients. There really isn't much difference. For the bread, just more flour, oil instead of butter. The rise instructions are abou the same as well.

Question: am I destine to just create the same thing no matter which type of dough I use? Does the baking soda bath restrict the rise? How can I make bigger, softer pretzels for buns?

Also...I use instant yeast. I understand that DOESN'T need to be mixed with water in advance. Some recipes say throw it right in. Some recipes say mix it with *just* water first. Others say mix with water and sugar (and it REALLY starts to bubble!), so why the differences? In the end, is it all the same?

Hi all,

I'm getting tired of repeating myself on "Pretzel-Related" threads where discussion of "Lye" is concerned and I always have to resist the temptation to turn the whole discussion into a Chemistry lecture. I decided a few days ago to do a little "Kitchen Science" and do an incomplete, but slightly more detailed explanation of what alkalis are all about

What I wanted to do was examine some of the claims I've read here, and on many other pretzel-making/baking/soap-making sites. I got tired of reading YahooAnswers, where someone says "If you can't get Sodium Carbonate (Na2CO3), use Sodium BI-Carbonate, because they are very similar chemicals..." This is a true, but totally vapid and rather stupid statement. Common Salt, Sodium Chloride, (NaCL) is also a 'similar chemical' to Sodium BI-Carbonate, (NaHCO3) and similar to Caustic Soda, (NaOH) because they all have only one sodium ion, per molecule, when in solution...It doesn't mean they will perform similar chemical reactions on your bread or noodle dough, however

Understanding pH in detail isn't that straightforward or easy, but as a guide-line, pH7.0 is completely 'neutral' (or in balance) and it's the measurement you should get from pure distilled water. Lower numbers are found with sour, acidic foods, such as lemon juice and vinegar, around pH3-4. Numbers above 7.0 indicate a 'basic' or 'alkaline' property. Any liquid you test will be either acidic, [low pH, well-under pH7.0]; neutral [pH7.0 or pretty close to it]; or alkaline [pH higher than 7.0]

The problems arise when people fail to realize that the pH scale is "logarithmic" [or negative logarithmic] in the same way that dB [deciBels] are in electronics. This is an "engineering solution" to dealing with ridiculously big numbers. What this means is that the difference between one point on the pH scale represents a difference of a power of ten: pH8.0 is about TEN TIMES more alkaline than pH 7.0; a solution of pH9.0 is 100 times more alkaline; pH10 is 1000 times more alkaline, and so on...A tap-water reading in many cities around the world could be as high as pH8.5, which is also the most-often quoted pH figure for Baking Soda. Caustic Soda, or 'Pretzel Lye', on the other hand (one of the strongest known alkalis), is at least 5pH points higher, meaning that it is at least 100,000 times stronger than baking soda. It is this which allows the alkali to attack the surface starch of your pretzel dough quickly and that gives the brown color and the perfect crust that many pretzel fanatics love!

What I did was make solutions using 'Aqua Purificata', the nearest thing you'll find to pure, ion-free, distilled water at a reasonable price. I measured 3g each, using my most accurate scale, of Baking Soda, Kansui Powder (the ingredients of Chinese Lye Water) and Caustic Soda (or 'Pretzel lye') and mixed the powders with 100g of purified water. I mixed each solution for two minutes in brand-new plastic containers, rinsed with the pure water and dried with heavy paper towels. I measured the pH using an $80 pH meter that is fairly well-calibrated. After 3 minutes in each solution, I took photos of the meter readings. I now think I should have delayed the photography until 5 minutes had passed, but the pics I have will give you an idea of the differences among the three main chemicals I tested

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=different+alkaline&m=tags&w=71323838%40N00&z=m&s=int

I hope this is clear enough and useful to somebody,

Best,

copyu

this is my first try,it is very easy to bake.I get the recipe from the web.

pretzel recipe is refer to:

http://www.grouprecipes.com/892/pretzel.html

Has anyone ever made anything like the Pretzel-thins at Trader Joes or the old snack, Mr. Phipp's Pretzel chips? I love dipping them in salsa, but I feel like I should be able to make it at home.

I've tried making them by using a preztel recipe and rolling out the dough, but they still puffed up enough that they weren't crunchy. I've also tried a lavash cracker (a la Reinhart) and then put it in a baking soda solution prior to baking, but the results were less than satisfactory.

I'm planning on doing a bit more of a rigorous experiment to make these, but I thought I would ask the collective wisdom of TFL before I got too far along. I'm thinking that my next attempt will use baking soda rather than yeast. Thanks all!

I love soft pretzels - who doesn't?  I just never seem to get them outside of fair settings.

And then the other week, Alton Brown did a show on homemade pretzels - it was a sign! So I went to the food network's site and I grabbed the recipe. (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/homemade-soft-pretzels-recipe/index.html)

The Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 package active dry yeast
22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups
2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
Vegetable oil, for pan
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Pretzel salt (note, I simply used Kosher salt)

ALTON: Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam.

So Alton's all into proofing the yeast - and I must say that I only do this because the instructions say so.  At some point I'll stop since I'm really only convinced this is a leftover from poor production methods of old - but look, it bubbles:

ALTON: Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes.

Now it's all about letting the KitchenAid do the work. I add the melted butter and the flour. You may notice Alton's recipe does specify flour by weight. I actually do have a scale where I can zero out my mixing bowl with ingredients, so I'm able to pour 22 ounces of flour exactly. From here, I let the mixer do it's thing for 5 minutes until the dough is nice and ready:

ALTON: Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

Rising time. Recipe calls for an hour, but this is fast-acting - in 30 minutes, I'm more than doubled:

ALTON: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.

Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.

In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.

Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

I tear my into 8 pieces and lightly oil my counter so I can roll these into ropes and form them into pretzel shapes. I'll admit that it's not as supple as I'm expecting it to be, but that's okay. While I do this, I have water boiling on the stove and the oven preheating:

Hint from me to you - do put in the baking soda before the water is boiling - if you think you see white crusty stuff on the sides of the pot, you do. I added the baking soda while the water was boiling and got a mini-science experiment. Luckily no spillover, but I laughed. I basically boiled each pretzel for 30 seconds and scooped it out with a wire scoop (this gives the pretzel texture):

At this point, I give the pretzels an egg wash and bake them for 13 minutes. Look what I get:

If you're wondering - but is it a chewy, doughy piece of pretzel goodness? Well - take a look at this crumb:

Yes, this is good stuff - I will be making this again!

So, in the last few weeks I've started trying out the pretzel formula from Jeff Hamelman's Bread, with very pleasing results.  One modification I made was to boil the pretzels instead of cold-dipping them, and use 1tbsp baking soda per cup water instead of lye.  The result: a lovely mahogony colored, crispy thin yummy crust. 

Now I'm wondering if I ought to try a similar approach with my bagels.  Normally I boil them 1 minute per side, with just 1 tbsp baking soda in the whole pot of water (maybe 6-8 cups).  The results are always good, but there's room for improvement on the crust.  However, I'm not sure whether that wonderful "pretzel-y" flavor on the pretzels came from the dough, the baking soda, or the amount of time in the water.  Its a great flavor, but I wouldn't want my bagel tasting like a pretzel!

Has anyone experimented with various concentrations of baking soda in bagel water?  I've also seen it recommended to put malt in instead.  Any idea how much?  In Hamelman's bagel recipe he says to add enough to make the water look like "strong tea", but that's not terribly informative (especially since I'm working with a black non-stick pot).

Any suggestions would be appreciated!