German brezel enthusiast here! Some advice for working with real lye (sodium hydroxide, not bicarb or any other): - Lye and fat, either from your skin or oiled cutting boards or fatty dough, will react to form soap and it will leave nasty (sometimes permanent) stains! - Drops of lye on parchment paper will concentrate in the oven heat and burn through the parchment (silicon baking mats work well)! - Don't use lye on aluminum baking sheets as they are very reactive together - sodium hydroxide + aluminum particles + water = classic chemical drain cleaner (for real, look it up!) Apart from that it gives you the most authentic pretzel taste and is hard to beat! Great video! Stay save and enjoy the recipe!
Nerding out over Prezels (a thread): In Bavaria (not really Germany), Switzerland, Austria, South-Tirol (Italy), Alsace (France) and Germany there are all sorts of pronunciations for a Pretzel; Brez'n/Brezen/Brezel/Breze/Breztel/Bretschl/Brezet/Brezget/Brezg - the pronunciation really depends on the region, it is somewhat of a hot debate, but I grew up calling it a Brez'n. The Pretzel also differs in its outer Shape from region to region, though the Swabian and Bavarian Shape are dominating. the Swabian having a very thick bottom part and very thin arms and the Bavarian being thicker overall and with a bit rougher outer crust. But overall the Pretzel falls under the umbrella Term "Silsergebäck" / "Laugengebäck" (translated to lye baked goods / baked goods dipped in lye water before baking) and under Laugengebäck you can find all sorts of baked goods, from braided or just rolled bread sticks (Laugenstangen / lye sticks), braided bread or giant pretzels, even croissants, then just buns in the shape of the famous "Kaisersemmel" or just a knot. Then ofcourse crispy pretzel sticks or Salzbrezelchen - tiny pretzel shaped "pretzel sticks" famous at parties or on hikes. The list is endless and very delicious and the baked goods are sometimes used to make other delicious meals, like dumplings, Bread-puddings, bread crumbs or soups. But overall, a Bavarian eats a pretzel as a snack, Breakfast/Abendbrot or to mop up sauce: - Like a sandwich; cut horizontally and sandwiched with Butter or cream cheese and chives. Some use it like a normal Sandwich bun and put slices of Cheese, Tomato, Salad and cucumber in-between the two pretzel Halves. - Dipped in Obatzda - a camembert cheese, butter, caraway seed, dried Paprika and Onion based Spread that is never to be missed on a Biergarten or Volksfest table. - And before 12pm we Bavarians do love to eat Pretzels with Weißwürscht (boiled White Sausage) and grainy sweet mustard (a staple in the Bavarian cuisine). - etc. ... In Bakeries you can often buy Pretzels topped with melted Cheese (often Emmentaler Cheese or sometimes Bergkäse), it becomes crispy and very deliciously fatty, sometimes they put ham under the Cheese (also yummy). Some Bakeries sell Black Pepper topped Pretzels (not my fav, as I find the pepper overpowering). Its also common to sell Prezels that are topped with all sorts of seeds; Poppy Seeds, pumpkin Seeds, sunflower seeds or caraway seeds. As a Bavarian I can say your pretzels are quite okay for being American and home made, you used lye water and you rolled the dough into it self (kinda like when making a bagel) so kudos to you, most don't bother and in the end it is just not the same. What was defiantly missing from your Pretzel, was the cut / cracked open split at the thicker part of the pretzel. And you did use the wrong salt, on a real Pretzel you use "Hagesalz" which is a large grained salt, thick and dense, that one either chipps off before eating or leaves it on. warm regards from Germany, and sorry for any spelling or grammatical errors :)
There's a better alternative than baking soda if you can't get lye: just bake your baking soda first. Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) has a pH of 8, but sodium carbonate has a pH of 11. Put your baking soda in the oven for an hour at 250°F, and the sodium bicarbonate decomposes to sodium carbonate, releasing water and carbon dioxide. It's still not as basic as lye (pH > 13), but the increased alkalinity will get you a much nicer color than you'd get with baking soda. You still need protective gear when using it though, and you should line your sheet tray with parchment/foil
@@BrianLagerstrom Bicarbonate readily decomposes in hot water. Pre-treating the baking to sodium carbonate is unnecessary as simply heating the aqueous solution to the boiling point will yield the same result.
Hey Brian, you are my go to bread guy! I tried the pretzel recipe this weekend and my wife’s response was “those pretzels are slammin’!” I enjoy your channel and your recipes. Keep up the great work!!
I have watched many cooking vids during this pandemic and I have to say, you guys do such a great job of making interesting content, doing incredible r&d work ( can’t stand the vids where people are making it up with mistakes as they go along-some with 100,000’s of followers) and then professionally producing top quality visuals and sound with spot on editing. Thanks for making this video. We hope to try this one soon.
Thanks very much for the kind words. I also hate it when I see creators putting out content where there was clearly no preparation. I hope you give this one a try. Let me know how it goes
Hello, Brian. I've tried this recipe twice so far and I've been having some trouble with dough texture. I measure by weight, and mix in an Ankarsrum. The dough has come out REALLY wet and sticky, not holding its shape at all and clinging to the bowl more like a batter. I added more flour--several tablespoons at least, just so I can handle it--and it's still very sticky, though it passes the windowpane test (I can't do the test without first flouring my fingers). I was looking at bakers' percentages, and if my calculations are right this is 71% hydration and 14.25% fat. In comparison, King Arthur's Bavarian pretzels are 56% and 5%, respectively. Their Hot Buttered Soft Pretzel recipe has a higher hydration, 66 to 76% (varying with humidity), but no butter in the dough (melted butter is brushed on after). Am I missing something?
@@nofitapeterson3779 Except that 150 ml water = 150 g. At first, I thought I'd mixed things up the first time and maybe used 150g for the poolish as well as the dough, but I'm 100% sure I got the numbers right the second time. The net effect was that I had more of a pretzel bun than a pretzel. Good with scrambled eggs and a little pepper jack cheese, though.
I made these today and the same thing happened. They look good shaped but the dough definitely needed extra flour. It was pretty wet here today, I'm sure it played a factor.
Not sure if you ever got to the bottom of this, but if it helps you're definitely not alone! I've tried this recipe a few times to use for pretzels and buns, and I get the strong feeling there is too much liquid (or too little flour) and also potentially a bit too much butter. This is clearly meant to be a pretty rich, full throttle example of pretzel dough, but without modifications, I found my dough to be very wet and it really had a tendency to lose shape when proofing (for buns); and the end result was a bit too heavy, fatty and dense, like it was juuuuuuuust short of being cooked through properly. Each to their own, but in the end I'm seeing better results cutting the butter back to ~35g, and adding a little extra flour during the early part of the strengthening process just until I see a clean bowl (probably 30g extra). That makes it a roughly 65% hydration dough with 9% fat (380g/250g/35g), poolish included. End result is rich and malty and the right amount of dense, but not quite so heavy. I'll probably continue to tweak it, but would be keen to hear if you've landed on your own ratios.
Same here! Made it twice, just a pool of dough in the bottom of the mixing bowl no matter how much I mixed it. I ended up adding 5 tbsp of AP flour gradually and it looked like that was just about perfect to get it the same texture as Brian's in the video.
I suffered through wrangling the 72% hydration dough (before the butter), but dammit man, those are some kickass pretzels (even with a baking soda bath). I'm going with 68% next time.
Thanks Tom! Sorry they were hard to handle. I guess I take my bakers hands for granted when developing these recipes sometimes. The soda does pretty damn well.
I made these per the recipe, everything looked very spot on to the video. Baked 20 min. After they had cooled enough to eat one, I found them too moist and soft. I rebaked for about 7 minutes (oven was still nearly at bake temp and I turned it back on to 450). It crisped up the crust a bit and dried the crumb a bit and they were much better. I give them an 8.5 out of 10. I need to make with new yeast to see if it changes much. My yeast tested ok, but it's 4 years old. I'll also try a 4% lye solution instead of 3%. Finally a suitable replacement for the bakery/cafe near me that discontinued theirs.
Third batch going into the fridge. I do think these really need 25+ minutes baking time. I also did 30 seconds in the lye. Also, use chilled water for your lye bath, lye generates heat as it dissolves. The first time the water was room temp and warmed up from the lye reaction and softened the pretzels a bit making them harder to handle going onto the baking tray.
@@BrianLagerstrom I really appreciate your dedication to teaching the correct ways of dough handling and mixing too (Your whole wheat bread comes to mind) I'm a baker, and see so much misinformation about in on TH-cam. I feel like you'd make a kick ass fougasse too! My fave is garlic confit and chilli oil...
What the heck is on your counters!? All your videos are perfect… well nearly 😉. And… that empty clean space is inspiring. But (and I use that word with great reluctance) your empty kitchen is one of the things that drew me to your videos. No one else dares. I find it easy to to listen and watch without distraction. Just my two cents. Thank you for making food fun and doable!!
I prefer my soft Bavarian pretzels with mustard, preferably grainy Bavarian mustard, but I can get away with spicy brown mustard (especially if it is infused with hot fresh horseradish) in a pinch, or if I'm in a real bind, I'll use Dijon mustard. For a change of pace, I even sometimes slather on real hot Chinese hot mustard purchased from an oriental market. Thanks for the pretzel-making video; it should inspire lots of viewers to make their own.
I've been making pretzels at work for quite a while now it still amazes me how something so toxic can make bread taste so good after cooking it. Oh and I've definitely gotten it in my eye before, can confirm, definitely not fun. Great video by the way!
Just for your future safety, you do NOT need to use LYE at all. You only need to increase pH of the crust before baking. I love pretzels and have baked them multiple times, always using general baking soda, always perfect mahagon crust result. Next time, try for yourself ;)
Well, to be technically correct, sodium hydroxide is not toxic at all. It is, as a solution, severely caustic and upon digestion, can cause serious harm, but not due to toxicity, strictly speaking. I am happily assuming that you didn't suffer any lasting injuries from your lye accident(?). :) Kind regards, a chemist :)
the second rise and slow cool fermentation makes a big difference from other recipes; honestly there's no comparison. the thing that stands out is how light and airy these come out compared to other recipes! Most other recipes that dont call for a second rise result in more doughy pretzels.
Let the pretzels drain thoroughly after lye bath. Mine soaked through the parchment and burned the bottoms. Maybe blot them on paper towel. Ive also used the baking soda which also comes out freaking awesome.
Dude I love your videos. Your pretzels look very much like the ones I get in Austria. Btw I did work 2 days in a bakery once (for fun) and the lye bath looked like some medieval torture thing, with a grid for the pretzels and some chains to let them into the solution (kinda like in Indiana jones, where they let the poor guy into the lava). Was fun though
Love these videos Brian, my wife and I watch them as soon as they come out. Gotta admit I'm not going to the trouble that you do for some of the recipes (yeah I'm getting a can of that or a frozen one) but by and large they are approachable and very doable. Only suggestion: Dude get a heavy extension cord for that mixer or move the outlet, you're killing me with that thing stretched out to the max. Keep up the good work man and also Hi Lorn!
Well I guess I am making pretzels tonight. I have a feeling this video will have a million views by next year... hopefully sooner. Thanks for making these videos!
not sure why, but after hearing, "les eat dis thaaang," i was immediately reminded of justin roiland. mr. weeds & sardines, you sir remind me of justin roiland. maybe its that lovely, boyish charm.
Great recipe! Awesome channel! Only thing missing is the slit/cut on the thick part. Add some Obazda for a typical Biergarten snack. Greetings from Munich!
I've tried the recipe and I must say that it was hard to execute. My dough needed extra 10% of flour and the dough was still pretty sticky (I am experienced home baker, used to work with sticky bread above 80% hydration). I didn't realize it will be that hard to scoop pretzel out of hot baking soda bath and my pretzels lost its perfect shape. Five things I will do next time I make it. 1. Use strong bread flour instead of AP. 2. Make smaller pretzels around 120g, they still proofed a lot with that amount of yeast. 3. Prepare bath in a pan not in a pot. 4. Freeze pretzel 30 min before bath. 5. Use wheat beer instead of water for extra flavour.
Would like to request for a pretzel burger buns recipe please.. hope you make an easy recipe for homebakers like me.. thank you for sharing your recipes!
Thanks for the video Brian. Your recipes are always very reliable. We made these this weekend and they were good or slightly better than good. However, the outside was crisp and inside soft and bready. I wanted a little more chew texture. When working the dough into the 24” tubes they sprung back..a lot; like the gluten was over tensioned. I wonder if they needed more rest? Any thoughts would be great. We will be making again. Love your channel!
I never was a pretzel person, I can count on one hand how many I have eaten in my lifetime and I'm almost 60, What you made I would definitely eat it looks awesome, The more salt the better. Thanks man.
Can you substitute the water for non-alcoholic beer? And would it change the recipe if bread flour was used instead of AP flour? Which flour yields better results and what is the difference between the two. Thank you.
I am loving this rabbit hole I found in your channel. I wonder if I look like a giant too (6' 4") when working at my counter. One of these days I will have counters 4-6" taller than the standard height.
I forget I literally have the internet. Here's the skinny for those curious. What it is: "diastatic malt is a grain which has been sprouted, dried and grounded into a powder. By sprouting the grain (often wheat or barley), letting the grain grow into a small sprout, you activate the enzymes inside the grain." What it does: "Diastatic malt powder is the "secret ingredient" savvy bread bakers use to promote a strong rise, great texture, and lovely brown crust. Especially useful when flour does not have barley malt added, as is true for most whole wheat flour and many organic flours. Active enzymes in diastatic malt help yeast grow fully and efficiently throughout the fermentation period, yielding a good, strong rise and great oven-spring." So why is it not good in all doughs, and only in some? Does it effect flavor?
Well, small amounts of barley malt flour is in a lot of the pro level ap flours used in bread bakeries. Shinier crust and more predictable fermentation. I don’t really know why it’s not more common in consumer flours. It’s pretty great.
Just made these, went rather smoothly. Right up until I was removing from the parchment paper, they stuck? I proofed mine on the sheet I used, that might be my problem? Can't wait to eat at lunch! Thank you for putting together a rather informative series of things I actually want to make. Have made several of your breads as well. I will try the pretzels with a sourdough base. Keep up the great work...
Thank you so much for this and other videos. I definitely want to do this. I do have my own starter, can you please explain how to use it instead of the poolish? I know there was another comment about this but I was quite clear on it. Do I still use yeast with starter? Do I use fed active starter or do I use starter discard for flavour? How much starter do I need? Does the change affect the fermentation times? Thanks in advance
Man I am excited... two questions. 1) How do you dispose of the water/lye solution after soaking? 2) Can you hook us up with your whipped butter recipe? Any dairy or just whipped?
The lye goes down the toilet if your municipality allows. It’s essentially less caustic draino. Whipped butter is just softened butter with .75-1 percent salt added while whipping! Godspeed graham
Pour it down the drain of your bathroom sink. It's very weak drain cleaner after all. I re-use the lye. I just fill it into a mason jar and store it in the fridge. Since it's so alkaline it will last a long time.
Hey Bri... I really tried, twice. I come up with a hydration of 71% including the preferment. My dough comes out way looser than in the video. I'm using AP flour with 11.7% protein. 🤷🏼♂️
In a recent video, you mention that your AP flour is higher in protein content (more akin to bread flour) than normal consumer varieties; is that the case in this video, too? I found the dough to be pretty slack and am wondering if switching the flour would help it. Just means I get to try it all again! Also, any thoughts on using sodium carbonate as a lye substitute, instead of baking soda? I've had good success with that in the past to get the more traditional "pretzel taste".
In the past I read that diastatic malt added could be ideal around 0.5-1%, but this recipe uses 5.7% based on the total flour content (dough plus poolish flour). Is there an advantage to using such a high amount of malt over just 1%? 🙏🏻
Two questions: 1) What did you do with all that Lye after you used it? Can it go down the drain? 2) Can I dip in Lye and store it for an hour? Was hoping to get it all ready and then take it to a friend's house to bake. Or is it best to take the chemical there and dip before baking like you did?
I put down drain, and 1 hour in lye would dissolve the pretzel. I would take the dry chemical with you and make the bath there. Stay frosty it’s caustic as hell
Thanks man, and give butter a shot. In my opinion it’s the way to play. Cheese sauce good for sure, but it totally covers the malty sweet deliciousness of a nice pretzel!
Hi there, a German here. Please stop dipping Brezeln in mustard or fake cheese!! The pretzel gods are very unhappy. Cut it open lengthwise, slap some cold butter on there, maybe add some chives if that's your thing.
The recipe worked great up to the lye bath, and still yielded great pretzels, but I had some issues. Even though I had them on parchment paper in the fridge, they didn’t release well when I tried to lift them into the bath and deflated a bit, as well as being pretty hard to keep from losing their shape. Any tips?
Two more things. I bought some organic flour from Costco that's 11.5% and the hydration turned out very high. Any recommendations on how many grams of water I should reduce by? Also, things are heating up here in Phoenix AZ and I think I need to reduce proofing times both the 2hr rest and the 1h rest post forming. With the 11.5% flour I pretty much had to work the cigars into a long piece, then fold and rework to actually be able to handle the formed pretzels. I'm using salted butter as that's what I've got and so I dialed the salt back to 8g.
What kind of butter do you use for baking? I tried this recipe with butter I later learned was high fat and it never developed into a cohesive structure. Apparently most European butter is higher fat than American butter, and American butters also differ in fat content. Do you have a brand in mind?
If someone were making this by hand, would this dough be a good candidate for an autolyse before mixing in the poolish so the gluten is better developed before adding in the fat?
EXCELLENT question, that works in theory but adding in poolish by hand to and already hydrated dough, especially a dry one can be a lot of work. It will help but I would say its much easier to add polish to water and dissolve.
Exactly. Starter can be subbed 1:1 for poolish. I would still add in yeast as well, a hybrid method will be great. All sourdough tend to be a bit tough.
Had a friend in high school with the last name Poolish. His nickname was 'Doughboy' and for the last 20 years I thought it was because he was chubby... Now I know! 🤣
I’m not sure what I did wrong but ended up with pretzels on baking sheet to proof in the fridge and the next morning they dissolved into a pancake form .
One question, I can't find the malt powder locally but I do have barley malt extract (sort of a syrup kind of deal), do you think it might do the job? Or have a similar effect? Love the channel, planning to make these soon.
I freaked out when you mentioned lye water because I only know about the boiling method for pretzels, also lye water is used in soapmaking. Thanks for clarifying that there's food grade lye but it's still a caustic chemical
German brezel enthusiast here! Some advice for working with real lye (sodium hydroxide, not bicarb or any other):
- Lye and fat, either from your skin or oiled cutting boards or fatty dough, will react to form soap and it will leave nasty (sometimes permanent) stains!
- Drops of lye on parchment paper will concentrate in the oven heat and burn through the parchment (silicon baking mats work well)!
- Don't use lye on aluminum baking sheets as they are very reactive together - sodium hydroxide + aluminum particles + water = classic chemical drain cleaner (for real, look it up!)
Apart from that it gives you the most authentic pretzel taste and is hard to beat!
Great video! Stay save and enjoy the recipe!
I grew up in a German bakery and your advice is spot on! I freeze the pretzels before dipping them in lye solution to help maintain their shape.
Nerding out over Prezels (a thread):
In Bavaria (not really Germany), Switzerland, Austria, South-Tirol (Italy), Alsace (France) and Germany there are all sorts of pronunciations for a Pretzel; Brez'n/Brezen/Brezel/Breze/Breztel/Bretschl/Brezet/Brezget/Brezg - the pronunciation really depends on the region, it is somewhat of a hot debate, but I grew up calling it a Brez'n.
The Pretzel also differs in its outer Shape from region to region, though the Swabian and Bavarian Shape are dominating. the Swabian having a very thick bottom part and very thin arms and the Bavarian being thicker overall and with a bit rougher outer crust.
But overall the Pretzel falls under the umbrella Term "Silsergebäck" / "Laugengebäck" (translated to lye baked goods / baked goods dipped in lye water before baking) and under Laugengebäck you can find all sorts of baked goods, from braided or just rolled bread sticks (Laugenstangen / lye sticks), braided bread or giant pretzels, even croissants, then just buns in the shape of the famous "Kaisersemmel" or just a knot. Then ofcourse crispy pretzel sticks or Salzbrezelchen - tiny pretzel shaped "pretzel sticks" famous at parties or on hikes. The list is endless and very delicious and the baked goods are sometimes used to make other delicious meals, like dumplings, Bread-puddings, bread crumbs or soups.
But overall, a Bavarian eats a pretzel as a snack, Breakfast/Abendbrot or to mop up sauce:
- Like a sandwich; cut horizontally and sandwiched with Butter or cream cheese and chives. Some use it like a normal Sandwich bun and put slices of Cheese, Tomato, Salad and cucumber in-between the two pretzel Halves.
- Dipped in Obatzda - a camembert cheese, butter, caraway seed, dried Paprika and Onion based Spread that is never to be missed on a Biergarten or Volksfest table.
- And before 12pm we Bavarians do love to eat Pretzels with Weißwürscht (boiled White Sausage) and grainy sweet mustard (a staple in the Bavarian cuisine).
- etc. ...
In Bakeries you can often buy Pretzels topped with melted Cheese (often Emmentaler Cheese or sometimes Bergkäse), it becomes crispy and very deliciously fatty, sometimes they put ham under the Cheese (also yummy). Some Bakeries sell Black Pepper topped Pretzels (not my fav, as I find the pepper overpowering). Its also common to sell Prezels that are topped with all sorts of seeds; Poppy Seeds, pumpkin Seeds, sunflower seeds or caraway seeds.
As a Bavarian I can say your pretzels are quite okay for being American and home made, you used lye water and you rolled the dough into it self (kinda like when making a bagel) so kudos to you, most don't bother and in the end it is just not the same. What was defiantly missing from your Pretzel, was the cut / cracked open split at the thicker part of the pretzel. And you did use the wrong salt, on a real Pretzel you use "Hagesalz" which is a large grained salt, thick and dense, that one either chipps off before eating or leaves it on.
warm regards from Germany,
and sorry for any spelling or grammatical errors :)
That was wonderfully informative
There's a better alternative than baking soda if you can't get lye: just bake your baking soda first. Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) has a pH of 8, but sodium carbonate has a pH of 11. Put your baking soda in the oven for an hour at 250°F, and the sodium bicarbonate decomposes to sodium carbonate, releasing water and carbon dioxide. It's still not as basic as lye (pH > 13), but the increased alkalinity will get you a much nicer color than you'd get with baking soda. You still need protective gear when using it though, and you should line your sheet tray with parchment/foil
Great tip, I tried this while testing but didnt get reliable enough results to share.
simply add cocaine for an easy and simple home recipe for crack!
Came here to say the same thing...but you beat me to it by a loooong time. :) Glad to know all those chem classes were good for something. :)
thanks!!
@@BrianLagerstrom Bicarbonate readily decomposes in hot water. Pre-treating the baking to sodium carbonate is unnecessary as simply heating the aqueous solution to the boiling point will yield the same result.
The happy food dance at the end is killing me lol. Thanks for the content!
Thanks a lot for watching and taking the time to comment!
Hey Brian, you are my go to bread guy! I tried the pretzel recipe this weekend and my wife’s response was “those pretzels are slammin’!” I enjoy your channel and your recipes. Keep up the great work!!
I have watched many cooking vids during this pandemic and I have to say, you guys do such a great job of making interesting content, doing incredible r&d work ( can’t stand the vids where people are making it up with mistakes as they go along-some with 100,000’s of followers) and then professionally producing top quality visuals and sound with spot on editing. Thanks for making this video. We hope to try this one soon.
Thanks very much for the kind words. I also hate it when I see creators putting out content where there was clearly no preparation. I hope you give this one a try. Let me know how it goes
Hello, Brian. I've tried this recipe twice so far and I've been having some trouble with dough texture. I measure by weight, and mix in an Ankarsrum. The dough has come out REALLY wet and sticky, not holding its shape at all and clinging to the bowl more like a batter. I added more flour--several tablespoons at least, just so I can handle it--and it's still very sticky, though it passes the windowpane test (I can't do the test without first flouring my fingers).
I was looking at bakers' percentages, and if my calculations are right this is 71% hydration and 14.25% fat. In comparison, King Arthur's Bavarian pretzels are 56% and 5%, respectively. Their Hot Buttered Soft Pretzel recipe has a higher hydration, 66 to 76% (varying with humidity), but no butter in the dough (melted butter is brushed on after).
Am I missing something?
I think Brian gave us wrong water measurement I think he meant 150ml water not gram, I did the same thing like you too & the dough watery
@@nofitapeterson3779 Except that 150 ml water = 150 g.
At first, I thought I'd mixed things up the first time and maybe used 150g for the poolish as well as the dough, but I'm 100% sure I got the numbers right the second time.
The net effect was that I had more of a pretzel bun than a pretzel. Good with scrambled eggs and a little pepper jack cheese, though.
I made these today and the same thing happened. They look good shaped but the dough definitely needed extra flour. It was pretty wet here today, I'm sure it played a factor.
Not sure if you ever got to the bottom of this, but if it helps you're definitely not alone! I've tried this recipe a few times to use for pretzels and buns, and I get the strong feeling there is too much liquid (or too little flour) and also potentially a bit too much butter. This is clearly meant to be a pretty rich, full throttle example of pretzel dough, but without modifications, I found my dough to be very wet and it really had a tendency to lose shape when proofing (for buns); and the end result was a bit too heavy, fatty and dense, like it was juuuuuuuust short of being cooked through properly. Each to their own, but in the end I'm seeing better results cutting the butter back to ~35g, and adding a little extra flour during the early part of the strengthening process just until I see a clean bowl (probably 30g extra). That makes it a roughly 65% hydration dough with 9% fat (380g/250g/35g), poolish included. End result is rich and malty and the right amount of dense, but not quite so heavy. I'll probably continue to tweak it, but would be keen to hear if you've landed on your own ratios.
Same here! Made it twice, just a pool of dough in the bottom of the mixing bowl no matter how much I mixed it. I ended up adding 5 tbsp of AP flour gradually and it looked like that was just about perfect to get it the same texture as Brian's in the video.
Thank you for this video! I changed the recipe a little bit followed all the processes just like you did and the pretzels turned out great!
Thanks!
I suffered through wrangling the 72% hydration dough (before the butter), but dammit man, those are some kickass pretzels (even with a baking soda bath). I'm going with 68% next time.
Thanks Tom! Sorry they were hard to handle. I guess I take my bakers hands for granted when developing these recipes sometimes. The soda does pretty damn well.
I made these per the recipe, everything looked very spot on to the video. Baked 20 min. After they had cooled enough to eat one, I found them too moist and soft. I rebaked for about 7 minutes (oven was still nearly at bake temp and I turned it back on to 450). It crisped up the crust a bit and dried the crumb a bit and they were much better. I give them an 8.5 out of 10. I need to make with new yeast to see if it changes much. My yeast tested ok, but it's 4 years old. I'll also try a 4% lye solution instead of 3%. Finally a suitable replacement for the bakery/cafe near me that discontinued theirs.
Third batch going into the fridge. I do think these really need 25+ minutes baking time. I also did 30 seconds in the lye. Also, use chilled water for your lye bath, lye generates heat as it dissolves. The first time the water was room temp and warmed up from the lye reaction and softened the pretzels a bit making them harder to handle going onto the baking tray.
You taught those prezzies a lesson. Thanks my dude
Thanks for watching!
@@BrianLagerstrom I really appreciate your dedication to teaching the correct ways of dough handling and mixing too (Your whole wheat bread comes to mind) I'm a baker, and see so much misinformation about in on TH-cam. I feel like you'd make a kick ass fougasse too! My fave is garlic confit and chilli oil...
What the heck is on your counters!? All your videos are perfect… well nearly 😉. And… that empty clean space is inspiring. But (and I use that word with great reluctance) your empty kitchen is one of the things that drew me to your videos. No one else dares. I find it easy to to listen and watch without distraction. Just my two cents. Thank you for making food fun and doable!!
Please tell me you're working on a cookbook!! With the amount of info you pack into a 10 min vid, it would quickly become my kitchen bible.
i hope to in the future. balancing youtube and a full time job is tricky but hopefully i'll get one rolling some day. Thanks for the kind words!
Chef...your sheet tray game is...everything I aspire to.
These look excellent. I've done them with baking soda but will order some lye now.
Haha thanks. Good luck!
I prefer my soft Bavarian pretzels with mustard, preferably grainy Bavarian mustard, but I can get away with spicy brown mustard (especially if it is infused with hot fresh horseradish) in a pinch, or if I'm in a real bind, I'll use Dijon mustard. For a change of pace, I even sometimes slather on real hot Chinese hot mustard purchased from an oriental market.
Thanks for the pretzel-making video; it should inspire lots of viewers to make their own.
When I lived in Germany I had one of those with butter every morning 🤩
I've been making pretzels at work for quite a while now it still amazes me how something so toxic can make bread taste so good after cooking it. Oh and I've definitely gotten it in my eye before, can confirm, definitely not fun. Great video by the way!
Thanks for watching!
Just for your future safety, you do NOT need to use LYE at all. You only need to increase pH of the crust before baking. I love pretzels and have baked them multiple times, always using general baking soda, always perfect mahagon crust result. Next time, try for yourself ;)
Well, to be technically correct, sodium hydroxide is not toxic at all. It is, as a solution, severely caustic and upon digestion, can cause serious harm, but not due to toxicity, strictly speaking. I am happily assuming that you didn't suffer any lasting injuries from your lye accident(?). :)
Kind regards, a chemist :)
the second rise and slow cool fermentation makes a big difference from other recipes; honestly there's no comparison. the thing that stands out is how light and airy these come out compared to other recipes! Most other recipes that dont call for a second rise result in more doughy pretzels.
Thanks for taking the time to share this man!
Weeds & Sardines ❤️much love! thanks for the recipes😊😊
Let the pretzels drain thoroughly after lye bath. Mine soaked through the parchment and burned the bottoms. Maybe blot them on paper towel. Ive also used the baking soda which also comes out freaking awesome.
Dude I love your videos. Your pretzels look very much like the ones I get in Austria. Btw I did work 2 days in a bakery once (for fun) and the lye bath looked like some medieval torture thing, with a grid for the pretzels and some chains to let them into the solution (kinda like in Indiana jones, where they let the poor guy into the lava). Was fun though
Yeah lye is crazy. Glad you like the vids thanks
Love these videos Brian, my wife and I watch them as soon as they come out. Gotta admit I'm not going to the trouble that you do for some of the recipes (yeah I'm getting a can of that or a frozen one) but by and large they are approachable and very doable. Only suggestion: Dude get a heavy extension cord for that mixer or move the outlet, you're killing me with that thing stretched out to the max. Keep up the good work man and also Hi Lorn!
You and your wife are both named brian?
Well I guess I am making pretzels tonight. I have a feeling this video will have a million views by next year... hopefully sooner. Thanks for making these videos!
Man thanks for saying that!
Let me know how it goes.
My new favourite cooking channel. You are killing it man.
hey, thanks so much!
You’re the man, Mr Sardines! Stoked to make these, keep up the great content!
Thanks Reade!
I have literally snapped at 4:00 when you've picked a plate with baking paper on it just like that :D
I’m new to your channel and absolutely loving your presentation and recipes.
Yo man, Love this video and love how you present your videos.
not sure why, but after hearing, "les eat dis thaaang," i was immediately reminded of justin roiland.
mr. weeds & sardines, you sir remind me of justin roiland.
maybe its that lovely, boyish charm.
Who is this Justin Roland? Is he coool?
As a German I can say they look very nice and tasty.
Eat them with cream cheese and chives 👌
Nice move German. Thanks for watching
Great recipe! Awesome channel! Only thing missing is the slit/cut on the thick part. Add some Obazda for a typical Biergarten snack. Greetings from Munich!
I've tried the recipe and I must say that it was hard to execute. My dough needed extra 10% of flour and the dough was still pretty sticky (I am experienced home baker, used to work with sticky bread above 80% hydration). I didn't realize it will be that hard to scoop pretzel out of hot baking soda bath and my pretzels lost its perfect shape. Five things I will do next time I make it.
1. Use strong bread flour instead of AP.
2. Make smaller pretzels around 120g, they still proofed a lot with that amount of yeast.
3. Prepare bath in a pan not in a pot.
4. Freeze pretzel 30 min before bath.
5. Use wheat beer instead of water for extra flavour.
Would like to request for a pretzel burger buns recipe please.. hope you make an easy recipe for homebakers like me.. thank you for sharing your recipes!
Hunted malt powder lately... Haven't been dissappointed! It makes a HUGE difference, so happy about it! 😊
I’m definitely going to try this
Salut Brian super vos bretzels trop beau MERCI😘
Thanks for the video Brian. Your recipes are always very reliable. We made these this weekend and they were good or slightly better than good. However, the outside was crisp and inside soft and bready. I wanted a little more chew texture. When working the dough into the 24” tubes they sprung back..a lot; like the gluten was over tensioned. I wonder if they needed more rest? Any thoughts would be great. We will be making again. Love your channel!
Danke... this is the ONE channel I click affiliate links from.
German sweet mustard (grainy)
and if you add boiled white sausages and beer
you have Munich breakfast.
These pretzels… are making me thirsty!
I never was a pretzel person, I can count on one hand how many I have eaten in my lifetime and I'm almost 60, What you made I would definitely eat it looks awesome, The more salt the better.
Thanks man.
Can you substitute the water for non-alcoholic beer? And would it change the recipe if bread flour was used instead of AP flour? Which flour yields better results and what is the difference between the two.
Thank you.
I am loving this rabbit hole I found in your channel. I wonder if I look like a giant too (6' 4") when working at my counter. One of these days I will have counters 4-6" taller than the standard height.
Thanks for being here. Need taller counters for sure
Love your videos Bri! Very inspiring.
Thank you so much!
Пойду куплю, готовить долго. Спасибо за рецепт
ohmygarden this channel is hitting every button that needed hitting
Haha thanks Lee
How would I double this recipe please and thank you very much
simplemente increible amigo eres una makina
Diastatic malt powder is also an important ingredient in Hoagie rolls. Do you know what it is or does? I've always been curious.
I forget I literally have the internet. Here's the skinny for those curious.
What it is: "diastatic malt is a grain which has been sprouted, dried and grounded into a powder. By sprouting the grain (often wheat or barley), letting the grain grow into a small sprout, you activate the enzymes inside the grain."
What it does: "Diastatic malt powder is the "secret ingredient" savvy bread bakers use to promote a strong rise, great texture, and lovely brown crust. Especially useful when flour does not have barley malt added, as is true for most whole wheat flour and many organic flours. Active enzymes in diastatic malt help yeast grow fully and efficiently throughout the fermentation period, yielding a good, strong rise and great oven-spring."
So why is it not good in all doughs, and only in some? Does it effect flavor?
Well, small amounts of barley malt flour is in a lot of the pro level ap flours used in bread bakeries. Shinier crust and more predictable fermentation. I don’t really know why it’s not more common in consumer flours. It’s pretty great.
Can you use bread flour for this recipe (including the poolish), and beer instead of water?
Yes and yes
Wonderful to know! Maraming salamat! (That’s “thank you very much” in Filipino). Shoutout all the way from the Philippines! More power to you! 😊😊😊
Just made these, went rather smoothly. Right up until I was removing from the parchment paper, they stuck? I proofed mine on the sheet I used, that might be my problem? Can't wait to eat at lunch! Thank you for putting together a rather informative series of things I actually want to make. Have made several of your breads as well. I will try the pretzels with a sourdough base. Keep up the great work...
Thanks for trying, certain brands of parchment stick more than others. A hot and fresh pretz tho... wow.
Your videos are really cool. I am getting more and more into baking :)
it's addictive
@@BrianLagerstrom It sure is
That pretzel in the thumbnail looks like a smiley face when upside down lol
Thank you so much for this and other videos. I definitely want to do this. I do have my own starter, can you please explain how to use it instead of the poolish?
I know there was another comment about this but I was quite clear on it. Do I still use yeast with starter? Do I use fed active starter or do I use starter discard for flavour? How much starter do I need? Does the change affect the fermentation times?
Thanks in advance
done making poolish😊will try ths tmrw🤭goodluck to me😂
Good luck let me know how it turns out!
@@BrianLagerstrom i failed!!!! my oven is too small and doesnt looks like pretzel arrrrrrgggggghhhhh!
you can put on whatever you want, but a good mustard really completes any good pretzel
What if I have some Levain sitting home? How can I adapt the recipe?
The beefs? Bomb. The deep dish? Bomb. These are gonna be amazing as well. At what point during this process can I make pretzel hot dog/brat buns?
Love that video, brings me back to octoberfest 2018
2018 BB!
Any suggestions/advice if I used bottle lye solution available in the Asian market?
Man I am excited... two questions. 1) How do you dispose of the water/lye solution after soaking? 2) Can you hook us up with your whipped butter recipe? Any dairy or just whipped?
The lye goes down the toilet if your municipality allows. It’s essentially less caustic draino.
Whipped butter is just softened butter with .75-1 percent salt added while whipping!
Godspeed graham
Pour it down the drain of your bathroom sink. It's very weak drain cleaner after all. I re-use the lye. I just fill it into a mason jar and store it in the fridge. Since it's so alkaline it will last a long time.
What adjustments would you make to use sour dough starter instead of a poolish?
What can i use as an alternative to malt
Hey Bri... I really tried, twice. I come up with a hydration of 71% including the preferment. My dough comes out way looser than in the video. I'm using AP flour with 11.7% protein. 🤷🏼♂️
In a recent video, you mention that your AP flour is higher in protein content (more akin to bread flour) than normal consumer varieties; is that the case in this video, too? I found the dough to be pretty slack and am wondering if switching the flour would help it. Just means I get to try it all again!
Also, any thoughts on using sodium carbonate as a lye substitute, instead of baking soda? I've had good success with that in the past to get the more traditional "pretzel taste".
In the past I read that diastatic malt added could be ideal around 0.5-1%, but this recipe uses 5.7% based on the total flour content (dough plus poolish flour). Is there an advantage to using such a high amount of malt over just 1%? 🙏🏻
Homemade mustard recipe next?
I should have included. I debated it!
Two questions: 1) What did you do with all that Lye after you used it? Can it go down the drain? 2) Can I dip in Lye and store it for an hour? Was hoping to get it all ready and then take it to a friend's house to bake. Or is it best to take the chemical there and dip before baking like you did?
I put down drain, and 1 hour in lye would dissolve the pretzel.
I would take the dry chemical with you and make the bath there.
Stay frosty it’s caustic as hell
Never heard of butter on a pretzel before. What you need is a good cheese dipping sauce. Those look great. Love your channel.
Thanks man, and give butter a shot. In my opinion it’s the way to play. Cheese sauce good for sure, but it totally covers the malty sweet deliciousness of a nice pretzel!
it is a normal thing to eat it with, here in bavaria
Hi there, a German here. Please stop dipping Brezeln in mustard or fake cheese!! The pretzel gods are very unhappy. Cut it open lengthwise, slap some cold butter on there, maybe add some chives if that's your thing.
Any idea how long I can keep the lye solution?
Great recipe and instructions! I’m planning to make it tomorrow. How big the taste difference between baking soda method vs lye method?
Maaf chef.. yg terakhir kenapa rotinya dilempar. Kan aku jg want to eat☺
Can I replace the poolish with 100% hydration Sourdough strategy?
WOW. I have malt syrup, will that work for the malt powder?
Now my week is complete! Searching for food grade lye as we speak! 🤘🔥
Cheers man! Let me know how it goes. Hope you had a good new year.
Brian, is there a shelf life on the lye bath?
Oktoberfest Brezel 😍😍😍
Indeed!
Greetings from bavaria!
The recipe worked great up to the lye bath, and still yielded great pretzels, but I had some issues. Even though I had them on parchment paper in the fridge, they didn’t release well when I tried to lift them into the bath and deflated a bit, as well as being pretty hard to keep from losing their shape. Any tips?
Can you use sour dough starter? If so, how?
What's the difference between a poolish and a biga? They seem very much the same to me. Proportions?
You should try theese as buns 🤤 in Austria they're called laugen gebäck 🇦🇹 also really good in semmel shape with a bit of cheese on top 😍
Sounds great!
Jawohl, so is leiwand :-)
Two more things. I bought some organic flour from Costco that's 11.5% and the hydration turned out very high. Any recommendations on how many grams of water I should reduce by? Also, things are heating up here in Phoenix AZ and I think I need to reduce proofing times both the 2hr rest and the 1h rest post forming. With the 11.5% flour I pretty much had to work the cigars into a long piece, then fold and rework to actually be able to handle the formed pretzels. I'm using salted butter as that's what I've got and so I dialed the salt back to 8g.
0:36 was that Blue Steel, Magnum or Le Tigre?
I’m really disturbed by the pretzel on your cover photo for this video 😂
Hey guess what, I make soap and i have lye and ima gonna give this a go... Thank you! Mwah! ❤
What kind of butter do you use for baking? I tried this recipe with butter I later learned was high fat and it never developed into a cohesive structure. Apparently most European butter is higher fat than American butter, and American butters also differ in fat content. Do you have a brand in mind?
If someone were making this by hand, would this dough be a good candidate for an autolyse before mixing in the poolish so the gluten is better developed before adding in the fat?
EXCELLENT question, that works in theory but adding in poolish by hand to and already hydrated dough, especially a dry one can be a lot of work. It will help but I would say its much easier to add polish to water and dissolve.
How would you adapt this with a sourdough starter? A fed starter mixed in when the poolish was originally added in the recipe?
Exactly. Starter can be subbed 1:1 for poolish. I would still add in yeast as well, a hybrid method will be great. All sourdough tend to be a bit tough.
Technically pretzels are not made with sourdough. They're a simple yeast dough. But feel free to experiment.
I use sourdough starter instead of poolish for this recipe and it never disappoints 👍 highly recommend.
Had a friend in high school with the last name Poolish. His nickname was 'Doughboy' and for the last 20 years I thought it was because he was chubby... Now I know! 🤣
I just roll mine into batons rather than knots. I just use boiling baking soda, too many cats in my house for lye. Need to try the Malt....ymmmmm.
Can you do a queso recipe for dipping as well?
Can you keep the lye mixture for use a few days later?
Yes, keep in a safe place with lid
Yes, I reused the same lye mixture for a few years. Good, dedicated plastic container with a secure lid, and I kept it in the back of the pantry.
I’m not sure what I did wrong but ended up with pretzels on baking sheet to proof in the fridge and the next morning they dissolved into a pancake form .
Advice on easier shapes to do? I tried to do the classic twist, but they ended up being very clunky/more like figure 8s
I missed baking temp?
One question, I can't find the malt powder locally but I do have barley malt extract (sort of a syrup kind of deal), do you think it might do the job? Or have a similar effect?
Love the channel, planning to make these soon.
Hey! I would say a little barley malt extract would be a decent sub.
@@BrianLagerstrom thanks so much for the answer man! I will try it.
You have to try that with obatzda! Trust me.
Can't forget the cheese sauce 😋
I freaked out when you mentioned lye water because I only know about the boiling method for pretzels, also lye water is used in soapmaking. Thanks for clarifying that there's food grade lye but it's still a caustic chemical
How do you safely dispose the lye/water mixture?
Down drain works. It’s essentially weak drain-o.
Unless you have old fragile plumbing then I’d say dilute it a lot before doing that
@@BrianLagerstrom Oh, perfect! Now I can make pretzels as an excuse to clean my pipes!