How To Make Amazing Soft Pretzels 🥨 Lye Dipped Pretzel Recipe - Glen And Friends Cooking
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- Опубликовано: 21 авг 2024
- How To Make Amazing Soft Pretzels 🥨 Lye Dipped Pretzel Recipe. Welcome Friends! Welcome back to the kitchen, today we're going to make a soft pretzel recipe. Soft pretzels are something that I really enjoy eating, I enjoy making soft pretzels, but I'm a bit of a disaster at shaping pretzels. But I keep trying because I really enjoy the process of homemade pretzels. This traditional soft pretzel recipe dips the pretzels in a Lye solution before baking, if dipping pretzels in lye scares you - you could dip your pretzels in a Baking Soda solution... But you'll lose that classic traditional soft pretzel colour and flavour. Homemade pretzels are amazing!
Dough Ingredients:
750g bread flour
50g rye flour
5 mL (1 tsp) brown sugar
20g coarse salt
15 mL (1 Tbsp) instant yeast
10 mL (1 tsp) diastatic malt powder
30 mL (2 Tbsp) butter, room temp
480 mL water 115°F
Dip Ingredients:
1L Water
50g sodium hydroxide
Salt for dusting
Method:
Preheat oven to 220ºC (425ºF).
In a stand mixer with a dough hook, mix together on low flour, brown sugar, salt, yeast, butter, diastatic malt powder, and water.
Once ragged dough ball is formed, bring the mixer up to medium speed and knead for about 8 minutes.
Smooth dough into a ball, cover and let rest 15 minutes.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, form into a rectangle, and cut the dough into 12 equal pieces.
Roughly shape the pieces into rectangles, then cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and allow to rest at room temp for 10 -15 minutes.
Roll the dough out into a 1 inch thick rope with tapered ends, and tie into a knot...
Allow the knots to rest on a parchment lined baking tray covered with plastic wrap for 30 minutes, then transfer to the fridge for 1 hour.
Put two pairs of gloves, removing / replacing the outer pair as you need to touch other things in your kitchen between dipping the pretzels in the lye solution.
Pour the water into a non reactive stainless steel or plastic bowl.
Gently whisk the sodium hydroxide into the water.
Dip the pretzels in the sodium hydroxide solution one at a time 5 seconds on each side.
Remove the pretzel draining off any excess liquid before moving it back to the parchment lined sheet pan.
Repeat for all of the pretzels.
Sprinkle the salt or anything you like on the pretzels.
Bake for 20 minutes.
They are done when deep golden brown or the internal temperature reaches 205°F.
Best served warm.
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Thanks for watching Everyone! Do you make Pretzels at home? *As always the recipe is in the Description box*
Glen & Friends Cooking if it can give you a chemical burn how is it safe to eat?
Sugar will kill yeast more easily than salt in my experience, given the oppurtunity the yeast will find something else to eat rather than the salt.
With the sugar they will just eat themselves to death, they need variety like.. atleast a handful of berries in your galon of mead, unless you are using cyser specific yeast.
No fear of the lye, and I do like soft pretzels, but there's just two of us. Perhaps the cookies, instead? We both like coffee (understatement!) and chocolate chip cookies. Perhaps it's time to up my game?
Yes, I make pretzels at home all the time. Mine are straight-forward Southern German pretzels. I use just bread flour, and after making the pretzel I leave them uncovered for at least 4 hours in the fridge. (And of course, I cut them after salting.)
When Oma made pretzels she'd boil them in a strong baking soda solution. They don't brown up quite as dark when baked, but they're still crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. It's how the missus and I do them now for ourselves. I think she made the switch to baking soda when it got hard to get pure lye at the store. She had an enameled steel pot she used only for pretzels. Nothing else.
Geek out more, please. It's interesting to listen to the science behind the processes.
Yes!!! I really liked learning that! I am all about people geeking out about things they are really into!!
Love this video!
As a German I feel entitled to add two comments:
1. There are no mis-shapen pretzel when home baking, but if you are a perfectionist, attach the little arms further up on the curve 2/3rd up, it leaves a 'stomach' that is bigger (cut and add copious amounts of butter, maybe some chives) and the arms get crunchier. If you are struggling with the shape, it is also traditional for Laugengebäck to simply be rolls or small braided pieces. The dip is the important bit. Add rock salt (easier to remove some if it is too much) or sesame seeds on top.
2. In rainy or super humid conditions the pretzels do not keep well, as the dip will become very soggy after a few hours (of course you may just eat them right away or put them back in the oven for a few minutes to crispen them up)
Thanks for those two helpful tips!
Why are you afraid of geeking? Now I know something about malt
Exactly. It's only the annoying people who discourage geeking.
Glen, the amount of food science/food information you know is astounding.
And the amount of information that he doesn't know is even more impressive
My uncle passed away last Friday and your tranquil videos have helped me fall asleep nearly every night this week. Thank you for what you do.
Your mid-air twisting attempt made me laugh so hard. I enjoy you being authentic.
A few things:
1: I've found the secret to perfectly shaped pretzels is to make Laugengebäck. Nice balls of dough are easy to form, and you won't spend an hour shaping a batch.
2: Lye reacts with aluminum. I always bake on steel sheet trays. Stainless would be best, since the lye will strip the seasoning off your carbon steel, but I use what I have. Parchment helps, but it isn't waterproof.
3: Speaking of lye, I use a hot solution. I'm looking for something I can stick my hands in without burning myself, but still nice and warm. Do be careful when adding lye to warm/hot water though, as it releases a lot of heat when it dissolves, and it dissolves really quickly in hot water. Add it slowly, and always add lye to water, not the other way around.
It's amazing that you are so prolific in producing content and yet manage to maintain the quality. Definitely one of, if not the best, cooking channels on RUclips or any medium for that matter.
I’m looking forward to the chain of “Pretzel and Friends” to open in every mall and airport in the foreseeable future.
Auntie Anne will come down on you hard if you try to get on her turf.
I am from Germany and the best bavarian way of eating pretzels (Brezn!) is: cut it in half (don’t hurt yourself) and spread salted butter on one half, sprinkle chives over it, put the other half back on top and you are in heaven!
Of course in combination with white bavarian sausages and sweet mustard it’s also a classic you all should have on your bucket list 🖤
Butterbrezn, beste
It's so nice to see an authentic pretzel recipe, being German (and from the region that at least claims pretzels come from(which is not in Bavaria!)) I do try to make them the right way for people. Just one thing, rather than flaky Salt I really recommend using rock salt in small chunks, that is what we use in Germany and it gives the most amazing crunch, do not use table salt!
This brings back memories of when I was in Germany with the Canadian armed forces. One of the Gasthaus’ near the base would make fresh Bretzels every Sunday afternoon. They were served warm with a serving of fresh butter and a cool local beer. They were always a treat!
I think Julie said it best when suggesting what to dip the pretzels in... " Whatever brings you joy" :)
Hi Glen and Friends! I loved soft pretzels ever since they became available in the shopping mall kiosks, 45+ish years ago! Then, they became impossible to find. Even frozen ones, I've rarely seen here (I live in Leduc County not too far from the Edmonton International Airport). I then found them at Artisan Bakery in Edmonton! Beautiful taste and texture. But, being on a very fixed income, the gasoline cost for me to drive to the city for warm soft pretzels aveć salt, is now 18 billion times the cost of the pretzels... oiy (hyperbole for emphasis...lol)! So, thanks be to God, I found this, your recipe! Thanks to you, Amazon, Sodium Hydroxide, Diastatic Malt Powder, etc. well, these are better than anything I could buy "ready-made"...lol. That dough is absolutely beautiful to work with. Today I'll try the "overnight slow rise in the fridge" and bake them early tomorrow morning before it gets too hot...lol. Thank you so much for eradicating my fears of working with any kind of dough! That lye bath, absolutely essential, if we can use it safely (Sodium Hydroxide is used for pH correction in large potable water treatment plants. The last thing I wanted to do is dunk my food in a mixture that, if concentrated enough, could melt the flesh off the bone, and then the bone itself... 🤣). I can make the pretzel shape easy enough, but the next batch will be pretzel sticks... lol, maybe... maybe half? Much thanks again! If you are taking that "aluminum sky machine" near YEG/CYEG, come on by for a non-coffee coffee, and a nice warm pretzel! By the way, they freeze very well!
Glen channeling an Alton Brown Good Eats "food science" moment - - LOVED IT!! Always enjoy hearing the "why" and "how" parts of recipes as well as seeing the techniques and results. Totally appeals to the inner geek here!
I just love this channel.
You can TOTALLY just use baking soda and water, and dunk em in. (I worked as a baker for a bagel chain for a good long while, and I ALWAYS used baking soda and water!!)
I ALWAYS got the result I wanted with baking soda.. But you put a lot in the water.. (4c water : 1\4c or 1\2c baking soda)
The baking soda won't give you a super crunch, but it'll give you that ULTIMATE chewy texture. If you don't have lye just hanging around, I assure you, baking soda-water, works.
hi! my names john and i thought id be cool to mention not to use an aluminium baking sheet when using the lye, as it can start to react with the aluminum and begin to dissolve it, punting whatever byproduct into the pretzels, which of coarse we never want :)
also wanted to say that i made the dough today, and am waiting for it to rest overnight, so i can make them for my family, cant wait!! and ive been loving your new videos, their entertaining, and i can learn more about cooking!!
Those are actually (somewhat beat up) stainless steel pans.
@@GlenAndFriendsCooking oh yes, I saw, I mostly commented for people who use aluminum pans and baking sheets, don't want anyone getting sick over something like this, or something.
Thanks so much for the recipe. If you could make a video on bagels, that would be amazing. You’re teaching technique is the best!
I learned a new word today. That surprised me. Pedantic. Love it! From the lady that reads dictionaries for fun. My husband loves pretzels. I’ll be trying this
I live in Washington state US and we have a little town in the mountains called Leavenworth. It is themed to be a bavarian town. Long story short, logging died out and the railroad was re-routed and the town was dying so the city council decided in the early 60s to theme the town to make it attractive to visitors. So as you can imagine they serve sausages and pretzels and all the German stuff you can think of. Our favorite little sausage place serves their pretzels with a side of cheese dip and it is absolute crack. We were eating one day and there was a guy walking around asking everybody how their food is and chatting people up. I told him how amazing the cheese dip is and he says, "You want the recipe? I worked in the kitchen at the restaurant and it's the same stuff we serve there." "Sure," I says. "Put some milk and a little butter in a pan with some sliced garlic, melt the butter and simmer to infuse the milk with garlic, take out the garlic and then throw in swiss singles until it's the thickness you want." Swiss singles are the swiss-flavored American cheese slices. The ultimate pretzel dipping sauce. Try it out!!
Please keep 'geeking out'! I am learning to cook properly in a foreign country during lockdown. The science you share is so amazingly helpful to my learning! For me, like advanced mathematics, if I know how something works, I can make amazing food; a small quality of life improvement. I made live yeast from bread dough over here. But without understanding the specifics, I could not adjust to different ingredients or conditions, and the food can fail. So please - geek out. Well done, sir!
Love this channel!
One thing to keep in mind is mixing lye in water is an exothermic reaction, This means it release heat when mixed into water. If you pour in the crystals or powder too fast the water could boil. Constant stirring the water during mixing is also crucial and helps avoid local high concentrations and risk for boiling.
I'm glad you gave an update on the mixer repair video you mentioned in a comment a while back. I had been wondering.
Glen, you've inspired me to play in the kitchen and enjoy cooking again. Thank you for that!!!
Love that you just posted this, I made pretzel bites the other day for the first time with a random recipe I found. That had me using baking soda and an egg wash before baking them. They turned out pretty good although I think I'll have to try this one now to!!
i believe when you want to twist them, you want to twist and immediately drop it onto the bench before it has a chance to twist back out again. do it all in one swooping motion
Enjoyed the food science part. Pretzels have always been my favorite salty snack. Hard Dutch pretzels dipped in Winn Schuller's Bar Scheeze does it for me.
there used to be a few local local bakeries who made authentic pretzels but 2 quit making pretzels and the other went out of business. Now all the pretzels in town are the cheap kind that are basically just a baked bread rope, usually sold with little cups of fake nacho cheese.
Finally a member, and excited to make pretzels this weekend!
Thank You Glen and Jules(?)!
I never gets better than when you get nerdy or geeky or academic or intellectual😎👍👍😎 this is what separates Glen and Friends from everyone else! ROCK IT, GLEN!!!
I just made these and they're the best pretzels I've ever had!! I've made pretzels before but always did a baking soda bath. Now that I've done the lye bath I'll never go back to baking soda again. Thank you for the fantastic recipe Glen!
I love you geeking out. It teaches us something possibly new.
It also reminds me of Alton Brown's old show "Good Eats"
Hi Glen. I made these pretzels today and they were a huge hit. I didn’t have any rye flour or diastatic malt powder on hand, but being a home brewer, I had some rye malt, which I ground into flour with a coffee grinder. Killed two birds with one stone, so to speak. The bonus is that rye malt is huskless, unlike barley malt. Thanks for the recipe.
Your fellow Canadian AvE (tool, engineering, workshop Channel) did a pretty in depth tear down on a kitchen aid iirc
My girlfriend and I just made the pretzels and it's a major hit with everyone we've shared it with! Thank you for sharing your recipe. Due to the pandemic though we weren't able to find any Rye flour.
Great video, and I love the geeking out. You are the Canadian Alton Brown!
Glen I love it when you geek it out. I learn the science behind cooking. you have taught me a lot about cooking and science. thank you
Just made some of pretzels from your recipe. I did make two slight changes in addition to using AP flour. Hard to find bread flour right now.. I used molasses instead of brown sugar (I had some handy) and I used a baking soda bath instead of lye. they are wonderful with a nice crust and a great soft inside.
Always made pretzels with baking soda. Eager to try the lye now, so I can know what you're talking about, because soda'd pretzels have always tasted pretty pretzel-y to me. I expect you are about to rock my world. Again. And, thank you for the geek moment. I've known for awhile now that diastatic malt powder is important in making certain things (like bagels). Now I know why. That is so much better!
Your geeking out is great! It’s so much better than simplifying things by just saying “it will help the yeast work better.” I’m amazed that you could give those details so perfectly from memory! Thank you! 🥨
I've made pretzels since 2009. Hard to do it for a video but I put my bowl of lye in the sink. Helps prevent a spill and if there was, it won't go anywhere but down the drain. I used to have a dedicated pair of the heavy Playtex rubber gloves but I'm confident enough now that I just use a large plastic slotted spoon. I also use silicone baking mats rather than parchment paper.
That flavor on the outside of the pretzel is my favorite part, always has been. I can't believe its lye.
Those pretzels look so delicious and amazing!😀😃
Hey, swabian german here. My mother made pretzels at home, so I kinda grew up with "respect the lye" mantra! About the baking soda "solution": It really does not work - unless you alter it with heat, as you said, through baking or cooking it in water to make the same type of solution you did with the real lye powder. Most homecooks will not come close to the concentration needed with the baking soda method. But if you do: it's WAY more dangerous this way! Most recipies with baking soda I have seen call for diluting the soda in boiling water and dipping the pretzels into it while boiling. I mean.. You can only hope that it has no effect at this point, because this is actually dangerous. You would have not control over the concentration, the stuff is boiling, maybe spilling at some point.. No. Just buy propper lye powder and deal with it as instructed. And as you showed! So.. thanks for this video. The shaping is indeed not perfect, but other than that the process is authentic and the recipy is really well researced! Also it makes me really happy that you put so much effort into a food that is so close to my heart!
Glen and Friends (hey, Jules) - I've been lurking your channel from a bit before the lockdown, and about a year ago, I finally subscribed, as you have become one of my steady 'go to's when seeking advice on some experiment I'm on. I believe this is my first comment to you (maybe, second), but that's just because most of the time, I don't have any questions, or advice to give that is much worth a damn, as you've already covered it.
Basically, we work in similar kitchens, with similar tools and generally, similar skills, as well, we are of a similar age, with what I suppose are similar tendencies of the thought process.
That said, I started my Pretzel experiment about 15 years ago, and I'm pretty good at it. That said, I can improve, and thus I've found this vid of yours.
Everything you said about diastatic malt, is how I know it to be. I read of it in bread books, and bought some fairly pricey stuff from King Arthur's, as it turns out to be, being how cheap it is to make - at 8 cents of barley, as compared to an 8 oz order from KA for 8 dollars. I did learn that it was effective, for exactly why and how you said, as everyone else, from books to King Arthur, said it would.
That said, for whatever reason, the stuff I made, was side by side about twice as powerful (effective) as the stuff I got from KA's. Why, I don't know, but I have my suspicions.
I don't think it was age, as the KA stuff I had, was kept in a ziplock (and by itself, was very effective), as well kept under wraps in the fridge and was no more than a year old, but the stuff I made, was sprouted until the sprout was the length of the grain, and then dehydrated, at about 130F, no higher or the enzymes might be harmed.
As it turns out, or so I've been told, I was only to sprout the rye until the first sign of it, being just a nub. I don't know, but maybe my longer sprouting, resulted in it being more effective? I'm not a chemist, nor do I care to be, but that's what I empirically know.
As to taking standard Baking Soda, sodium bi-carbonate, and baking it (flat on a tray and periodically agitated), at about 200F for about 1 hour, as I recall, results in Sodium Carbonate (note the lack of 'bi', in the equation), which I did for a lesson about how to make stiff Lo Mein (ramen) noodles. It works, but the measurement is pretty precise, as it is easy for the noodles to end up tasting 'soapy', meaning too much sodium carbonate (the baked stuff), in the pasta dough.
A better way I've found to make 'stiff' Lo Mein noodles, is to make it mostly with egg yolks and any flour you want. Egg yolks have very little water content, as compared to egg whites, so, you are going to have to add at least a bit of water, to activate the gluten in the flour. Preferably, I'll just use a splash of water, rather than an egg white, as somehow, to me anyway, egg whites seem to make the whole thing a bit gummy. Save 'em for the meringue.
This applies to 100% Durham wheat (semolina) pasta as well. Same thing. The control is in how many yolks to how much water. It's your call. Typically, I make a simple semolina pasta with 8 oz of the flour, and 4 oz of liquid. I'll separate 4 (at least) egg yolks into a 4 oz measure, until just below 4 ounces, and then I'll kick in a tablespoon or two of water to the mix, to bring int to 4 fluid ounces, which usually works fine by me.
The result (once cooked) is about as stiff as any 'dried pasta' you've ever bought, cooked al dente, of course, but now you are in control of the flavor and density profiles, and if you don't want a flaccid noodle, this is one way to go.
Part two, actually getting to the point of pretzels, lye and structuring, in a bit, but I have to stop here, something's flooding, I need to deal with it.
Made these today, they are amazing!
Thank you, Glen. I finally obtained some lye for my bagel and pretzel making. Baking soda just doesn't measure up. Please, though, be safe. Chemical gloves with longer gauntlets, safety eyewear are really important. Also, the safety note says to double glove and don't touch anything with the outer glove, yet you touch the fridge among other things with the gloves that contacted the solution. Thank you for listening, I am a safety guy who works for OSHA and see injuries way too often.
I think they look amazing! Can’t wait to make these
"Happy yeast gives you great flavor"- Glen
The Bob Ross of cooking vids
Thanks for this one. I made the recipe and they were great. Then I ruined them by putting the cooled leftover pretzels in a sealed plastic container. The salt crystals dissolved from the moisture leaving soggy, pock-marked pretzels. Lesson learned. Don't do what I did! I plan to freeze them but would recommend that if you plan to freeze your pretzels, bake them without salt. When you bring them out to eat, dampen the frozen pretzels, sprinkle the salt, and heat in the oven.
In the future, I'll let them sit out for a while, and store in an un-sealed container.
I've made pretzels a couple times - using baking soda. I like the fact you don't have to boil these. But I am surprised you're water didn't seem super hot. I make soap, that water gets hot (maybe the double gloving protects enough). I need to try it with lye. The look delicious!
Those look delicious!
Have you done bagels? I would love to see that. The process must be fairly similar. Always enjoy your videos Glen.
A tip, especially if you have a wooden bench - cover your bench while dipping. Splashed lye solution will stain. Even putting the bowl on a sheet pan lowers the risk. Great explanation of the malt & the nature of alkaline solutions. :)
Lol, first time I didn't see Glen's thoughtful first bite. 😁
The geeking out was very insightful good sir I learned somthing new. Keep it up.
I'm definitely trying this one out soon! I haven't made pretzels at home in years.
I use active dry yeast and proof it with regular brewers malt syrup and warm water. So essentially I make a little batch of beer and that is what proofs my dough. I also use a mix of AP flour and bread flour without the rye, but other than that my process is about the same. I use a 4% lye solution for 30 seconds and you use a 5% solution for 5 or so seconds. Oh, and I definitely let them sit in the refrigerator overnight (anywhere between 8 and 24 hours) before dipping in the lye solution and baking. The additional flavor makes the wait worthwhile.
Active dry yeast eats the flour just fine without converting it to simpler sugars. I don't think the diastatic malt is necessary for that, but regular malt syrup (or even powder) does add a nice flavor so I do use that.
Excellent video Sir! I also watched your bagel video. In this video, you mentioned that you have gone through three or four KitchenAid stand mixers in the last couple of months. The current KitchenAid mixers are a very far cry in reliability from the ones made by the original developer of the stand mixers made by HOBART Corporation. These were designed and made with robust gearing and high-quality bearings, shafts, etc. And they were bulletproof (back then). Many lasting 30-40 years without issues. Again they are not made that way today, not even close. I have one 325 Watt KitchenAid stand mixer with the 5-quart bowl and bowl lift. I use this only for mixing cake batter with cake or all-purpose flour. In other words, it is made for light to medium duty processing only. If I try to use high protein flour like King Arthur Bread Flour, 12.7% protein, I can hear how the machine groans and strains as it tries to process this denser, high gluten material. So for making heavy, artesian bread, and especially bagels, I bought the Ankarsrum "Assistent" Deluxe stand mixer. This 600 Watt motor design, Model; ANK 6230, was developed by the company Electrolux Sweden back in the 1940's. It has not been cheapened in any way and is built to last many, many decades. The main drive system is ultra-quiet in operation and it will hold 7.5 quarts of dough. Instead of tearing the dough like the KitchenAid hook, the Ank presses the dough against the side of the rotating bowl, very gently kneading it as in hand kneading. Heavy bagel doughs are processed without the machine bogging down at all. When processing the machine remains very, very quiet at all times. The speed range is continuously variable from 40 -180 bowl rotations per minute. It simply is built like a tank! Also, there are many attachments similar to what KitchenAid offers. There are many UTube Videos on the Ankarsrum online. I am exceptionally pleased with the Ank. You may want to check this unit out! Thanks again for your informative videos! Very enjoyable!
I think its important to note that glass is still the best option for dipping in the sodium hydroxide solution. Etching is pretty much a non issue, you are not going to ruin your glassware unless you leave it out for weeks with the solution or put in 100x the concentration. I would recommend glass over any other material personally.
enjoy your little reward
3rd or 4th kitchen aid!!! good to have confirmation that they don't make them like they used to. i know you probably use it waaay more than someone who doesn't have to test a bunch of recipes for a show but still... We have one that is over 30 years old and we can still use it to knead bread and it doesn't get hot or make any weird noises. I keep expecting it to give out but it's still going... (definitely jinxing myself here i'm sure)
I thought I had subbed after watching the first video that got recommended to me but I guess I forgot to, changed that today!
In Germany these are usually called Laugenbretzel which translates to "lye-pretzel" so really, using lye is indeed the only way to go.
Happy Pretzel Day 😋👊
Keep Up The Good Work ‼️
I just discovered you and subscribed about a month ago... how happy am I that I have YEARS of your wonderful videos to catch up on!!!
Ok, Hi Glenn,
I used your recipe and boiled the pretzels 🥨 for 40 seconds on each side with 3 TBSP of baking soda. It came out perfect.
Had my mixer for 15 years, mix bread all time in it. Never has failed.
the thing that fails is a plastic pin .
it's is meant to fail to protect the motor. of course a overload switch would be better , but the pin is cheaper
The issue with salt and yeast is to not add them together in concentration with liquid. Disperse one or the other first. The salt will hold back the yeast overall slightly, which is actually good.
I've been making pretzels for years now. My friends and family love them, and I've even sold them for fundraisers. Every time, it's been a little better. However, I've never gotten that pretzel color and distinct flavor, and the bready inside has been hard to keep totally consistent. I've always wanted to figure out what makes the pretzels in the stores different. This video is exactly what I needed. So long as I can get lye, I'm making pretzels tomorrow!
Update: I made some pretzels, and they're pretty good. Handling the lye was tricky, but I made it work with plastic bags as gloves. I think mine need a little work, but they're great!
There’s also baking soda if the lye is freaking people out
@@epiccollision The baking soda never quite did it for me. When I used lye for the first time, it really got that distinct brownness and flavor. I even tried baking the baking soda in the oven to strengthen the effect, but it didn't quite do it.
Thanks so much Glen! I have been trying to get the original German lye recipe forever. NYC vendors used that old recipe. So much better than todays style. I wonder if ur recipe is the original too. I like the original shape too where the skinny part u made is still thicker. I used to eat those pieces first. Ha! Thanks again.
I love bretzels
Definitely trying this out. I like them with mustard, preferably grey poupon though. Or even a really good melted cheese to tear a piece off and dip it into the cheese. I'm from Wisconsin USA - damn near everything gets cheese of some kind. I have to say too, I really enjoy your history pieces throughout your videos. I like learning why things are the way they are when it comes to food. So, Geek out as often as the mood strikes - it's interesting!
You could use the pretzels that are bunched up & missed shaped as bagels split them, toast them & have them with cream cheese & cured/smoked salmon!
I haven't made pretzels in a while, but my process is more like bagels, with a brief boil before baking. It is much easier than finding lye.
You two seem like such a cool couple.
i can tell you as somebody who was a baker at a philly pretzel shop, dipping thousands of pretzels in a boiling pot of lye, i got used to the burns and holes in my shoes as it ate through the material haha.
The Kitchen Aid name isnt covered up this time! :o
they're so popular some people dont even realize "Kitchen Aid" is a brand and not just the name of the stand mixer, sort of like how people say "post it notes" for sticky notes or "band-aides" for bandages or "cadet heater" for in wall heaters.
I would buy them, Glen. You should try making bacon and onion or parmesan cheese, okay now I am hungry. Thanks, Glen have a wonderful weekend.
Agreed that the baking soda method falls short compared to the lye approach
Lol watching Glen twirl it in air was hilarious.
If you can try to find a pre 1986 Kitchenaid K5SS, They were made by Hobart (will say so on the trim band) and built like a tank compared to the newer post Whirlpool buyout models, My mom's 2018 has a circuit board and speed sensor (failed after the first year) in it where my 1980 has a simple mechanical speed govenor and uses the same basic parts as the Hobart K45SS only difference is the motor size. I suggest using Super Lube white synthetic grease instead of the brown goop as it's food grade, won't seperate like the brown goop will, and usually easy to find at most Ace, True Value, or similar hardware stores, and comes in a 3oz tube which is enough for one machine gearbox and planetary. Oh and it's usually cheaper in the stores than getting the no name stuff via ebay or amazon. A lesson I learned when I first started fixing the old mixers.
I love soft pretzels, and have been making poor representations via the baking soda method for years. I'm looking forward to trying this recipe soon!
Also, I know it's been months now, but perhaps the word you're looking for is "acerbic"
I've used lye in cooking a decent number of times(making pretzel buns), never bothered with gloves, and never had any issues.
If you're not doing it regularly the skin can handle it. Eye protection however is very important. That stuff can blind you very quickly
This is a great looking recipe. I’m waiting for the lye packets to arrive.
One thing you should have emphasized more: EYE PROTECTION. LYE CAN BLIND YOU.
When disposing of the lye solution add some vinegar to counteract the lye. It's easier on your drain.
when handleing lye keep a bowl of vinegre handy if you get lye on yourself splash or vinegre stops the burn
Bet you could just cut them into palm-width logs once you've rolled them out some, call 'em "Pretzel sticks", and enjoy them just as much without the extra twisting and folding work. And in that form, you could slice them down the middle and put a nice sausage into them with some mustard for a yummy "Pretzel dog".
If you come up with a beer cheese dipping sauce I’ll try lye...yum.
Just to be a little bit geeky here.: shape matteres 😊 In Germany the pretzels are bigger and the „armes“ get crispy and the bigger part hast still a very soft/ chewy interior:) best of both worlds
Perfect with some lard with bacon bits in, or just a bit of liver sausage.... and beer ;-)
They look really good!
Worth mentioning to only use stainless and not aluminium as it can create toxic substances when reacting with the lye. Traditionally a sourdough dough is used which will impart more flavour than yeast only.
You should try pennsylvania Dutch pretzels. They're different. Thin. Dowsed in butter. It's awesome.
Hey Glen, sodium hydroxide doesn't etch glass at room temp and not in the concentrations you use. Etching becomes an issue at boiling temperatures and even then, it would need a very long time to dissolve enough glass to make your bowl brittle.
True - but who knows the sate of some home mixing bowls - they could already have a few weak spots. Have to cover my arse.
Actually in real traditional swabian pretzels there is also some lard ;) and the "arms" are thin and crispy. Also, the flakey salt is the way you buy it here, there is no real other option haha. But nevertheless, great video!
I just made some the other month using baking soda and they were fine.
I do not make pretzels, but I have made lye soap with my grandmother.
When I lived in South Carolina; I worked for Auntie Anne's Soft Pretzels. I still know how to make them, and they used that baking soda to dip the pretzels in to bake them for the golden brown. It always messed my hands up. We would just cut out the pretzels from the dough, popped them out in the rope length and then you hold the ends, and one hand moves and then one hand stays still as you hold on and in one motion throw the dough in the air and when you come down on the rolling area you have a pretzel.
Every so often they had the jalapeño pretzels at Auntie Anne's and maaaaaaaaaaaan... I dug those **_**
A dip made from butter honey and mustard is what makes them go best with a stein of beer!!!
Philly Pretzel Factory pretzels are the best ones in my opinion
Really interesting to see you've had such problems with kitchen aids. We've had ours for 28 years and it's still a champ.
Yours says Hobart on it. Good to know about speed 2. Glen also said he abuses his.
@@DanielCoffey67 that is a great piece of advice