Homemade Soft Pretzels

I've been wanting to try making soft pretzels at home. After having them at Hot Chocolate last night, I am even more determined. I will probably use Sherry Yard's recipe to begin with b/c I like that her boiling liquid contains beer. Has anyone ever made soft pretzels at home? Also, where do you get pretzel salt? I've checked Fisher's Nuts (Home Economist), Penzey's and Spice House.

Funnily enough, the October issue of Martha Stewart Living has a soft pretzel recipe. They say you can get pretzel salt at Spice Barn, $3.89 for 9oz.

Spicebarn.com
1-866-670-9040

Thanks mtyf. I'll check out MS Living and spice barn.

I have also seen pretzel salt on Amazon.

Jyoti

I've made em at home a couple of times. I have never used pretzel salt - some had table salt, some had kosher salt. Both times I made them I used Alton Brown's recipe. Everyone thought they turned out great.

I recently started experimenting with pretzel bread but the one thing missing was the pretzel salt. I used sea salt instead for the coarse texture and it seemed to work pretty well. I still haven't given up on actual pretzel salt and will buy it if I happen to stumble upon it, but I decided it wasn't worth going through the trouble of ordering.

As a side question, has anyone who's made pretzels lately actually used lye? I'm curious how much of a difference that would make compared to the recipes that simply call for blanching the dough in boiling water.

An article in today's NY Times has a recipe for pretzels that calls for food-grade lye (sodium hydroxide). They list Amazon as a source. Anyone know where to find this in Chicago?

A friend of mine made the Alton Brown recipe for his holiday party and I was more than happy to eat lots of them while I was in attendance at said party. He had trouble locating pretzel salt as well and didn't plan ahead enough to order some. He used kosher salt instead. They were pretty outstanding! My pretzel-loving wife, who spent a lot of time in Germany, loved them.

He had a blog post chronicling his efforts.

I came across the soft pretzel rolls on Stresscake's blog and knew that I had to make them. We had leftover pretzel salt from a box of Kim & Scott's frozen pretzels we bought at Whole Foods. These were much easier than making bagels. They were very good and best eaten the day that they are made. I will be making them again.

Hi Pucca,

No lye was used to get that dark color? It was the baking soda bath that created that effect?

How did it taste compared to other pretzel rolls?

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Hi Pucca,

No lye was used to get that dark color? It was the baking soda bath that created that effect?

How did it taste compared to other pretzel rolls?

Regards,

Just used good old baking soda for poaching the pretzels! I was pleasantly surprised at how dark they got after baking. The recipe is based on Alton Brown's. Stresscake's post has a picture of a poached roll next to a non-poached roll.

I found that these were soft, chewy, not too dense, salty and just a little sweet. I liked being able to choose the size I wanted. It's been a few months since I have bought the pretzel buns from Trader Joe's, Pretzilla (Whole Foods), or Labriola, so I can't comment on an accurate comparison.

My sister started a 501(c)(3) pet rescue organization and had a fundraiser this past weekend, including a bake sale. The event was held at a brewery so I thought pretzels would be a wise contribution.

I used this recipe, which indicated that you could mimic the higher ph levels of lye by baking the baking soda for an hour at 250 degrees. And I really did not want anything to do with lye.

I thought they were fantastic. I made 21 of them and they got darker as I went along, almost certainly because as water evaporated, the ratio of baking soda to water increased. Part of the issue is that I may have started with too much water versus the baking soda used.

I had one the evening I baked them and it was perfect - crisp exterior yielded to a nice chewy pretzel and the flavor was terrific. Unfortunately, pretzels have a very short life span so the crispness was gone by the next morning (when served) and they weren't quite as impressive. I still thought they were fine, but they're really best enjoyed shortly after baking.

For serving, I bought a paper towel holder from Target, which was just perfect for stacking the pretzels. And here are the pics:

German Researchers Are Investigating the Science Behind Soft-Pretzel Scent

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/w ... -delicious

Any local spots have pretzel salt for sale? Otherwise it's Amazon.

Have you checked Gene's Sausage Shop? They have a good amount of gourmet European ingredients and they sell homemade pretzel bread. I'm not certain about the pretzel salt but I did find the pearl sugar used for liege waffles there.