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Pretzel

Gunter Petersen <gunterpetersen@sbcglobal.net>
Fri, 24 Sep 2004 15:46:54 -0700 (PDT)
v104.n042.15
PRETZEL

This original recipe is translated from http://www.onkelheinz.de

Laugenpretzel wie vom Bäcker

Makes 10 pretzel

500 g unbleached all-purpose flour
250 g  cold water 52 F
5   g  instant yeast
10  g baking powder
10  g  salt
40  g butter

Mix all ingredients except the butter. When the ingredients come together 
ad the soft butter. Kneed the dough till it is smooth and not to soft. Let 
the dough rest for 10 minutes.

Prepare the dip. The recipe using a 3% lye solution (30 g lye in 1000g 
water). Lye is Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH). You need food grade.

Now divide the dough in ten round pieces cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes form the dough pieces to 10 by 12 inches long bread 
sticks. I use Breadsticks rather then making pretzel. The taste is the same.

Put the breadsticks or if you prefer to make pretzel on a cardboard or 
plywood sheet covered with a linen cloth and let rest for 30 minutes. After 
that put the board and the pretzel in your fridge and till the dough is 
cold and stiff. This will take several hours.

Take the breadstick or pretzel if you prefer from the board they should at 
this point not deform. Put them in the cold 3% lye solution for 5 seconds 
and transfer them on to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle 
pretzel salt on the pretzel, and transfer the baking sheet to the hot oven.

Baking temperature 400 F, baking time 14 to 15 min.

The lye solution can be used several times - throw out if the pretzel are 
not getting brown any more. Use only glass or stainless steel containers. 
Don't use aluminum.

More in depth information can be found on 
http://www.cs.uml.edu/~dm/brezla-2 It is using different ingredients and a 
different technique with I have not tried.