June 9, 2017 - 7:29am
Soft pretzel questions
Hi all,
I am onto trying soft pretzel and soft pretzel bread/roll. I have researched numerous recipes by now. I have noticed some differences in the recipes claiming they are all classic and authentic.
1) butter or no butter, room temretire or melted?
2) milk, just water, or a mix?
3) barley malt syrup, brown sugar or non?
4) Lye or baking soda?
Upfront, I have decided to get the lye, it's pretty clear to me from what I read that this is the most authentic way.
As to the rest of the questions, please share your thoughts, exprerimenaces, and maybe a recipe as well! Thank you all very much in advance!
happy baking!
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1. I use softened butter, but I don't think melted would make a bit of difference.
2. I only use water and I would be surprised if any German used milk. In fact, none of the German recipes I looked at used milk.
3. I use malted barley flour, but have used brown sugar and I can't taste a difference, nor do I notice any difference in dough or texture of finished product.
4. Lye and only lye. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying to themselves and to you.
Really any dough will do as long as you use lye. It is such a transformative ingredient. 3-4% Lye solution is typical. I have the benefit of knowing German, so I spent a few hours perusing "Laugenbrezel Rezept" and "authentische Laugenbrezel Rezept" on Google to choose a recipe and process. I have made thousands of pretzels since, and it is the lye that makes all the difference.
Wow, i really appreciate the advices and detailed explanations, and that's exactly what I want to make - the authentic pretzel, and that lye is absolutely vital to the taste, crust, and Its deep-brown color. I already ordered food grade lye from Amazon And can't wait to try my first batch!
again, thank you so mich!
happy baking!
I found Essential Depot .com to be a good source for lye. Shipping is a drag, but it comes out to about $4 per pound including shipping (they ship from FL).
Thank you!! I will keep it in mind for the next time, it's really a great price!
If you have a chance, please let me know what you think about the 3 more specific questions I got, while arriving into a recipe I want to try.
500 g AP or bread flour
280 g lukewarm water
6 g instant yeast
20 g butter
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp salt
for lye bath:
1 L warm water/40g lye (adding lye into water)
I based this recipe on the one by Luisa Weiss,but I am planning to put brown sugar and no white sugar...
here is the link
http://m.dw.com/en/luisa-weiss-recipe-for-traditional-german-soft-pretzels/a-36588742#fromDesktop
1) is the dough hydration typical to the soft pretzels of 56% too stiff? Should I consider if needed to increase hydration?
2) the method in this recipe suggest very little rise time...is this supposed to be like that? For instance, Peter Reinhart suggest regarding overnight for the first long cold rise. on the other hand, I found a similar recipe to the one I want to follow, and it specified, there is no need to wait for the dough to rise...
3) have you tried making the soft pretzels with preferment?
thank you in advance for answering my questions..
1. No. That is typical. Very stiff dough. Mine is 510 to 288.
2. Yes. There is a lot of yeast. Furthermore, German pretzels are known to go stale very very fast. Mine won't last more than about 12 hours unless frozen. Also, Peter Reinhart's pretzels don't look like pretzels, and aren't pretzels, and therefore I would not regard him as an authority on pretzels (at least with his published recipes. I am pro-Reinhart, but he himself will and has admitted that there is a lot of knowledge that he lacks).
3. No, at least not since I got lye. For a pretzel or pretzel bun it is superfluous. For a pretzel loaf it's actually a good idea, since the interior of a pretzel without any crust is actually pretty lackluster.
thank you very much for replying and such detailed explanations. What you said about Peter Reinhart makes so much sense!
I made my first pretzels and rolls today, following the recipe by Louisa Weiss. It seemed to be authentic, from what I researched and your answers too.
The only thing I changed, I added 1tbsp of brown sugar instead of white sugar.
I think the hydration in my dough was about 58%, hers was 56%. I followed closely her method. And I think I got a great result. I am very please with the bake...Please, take a look at my bake:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/comment/383021#comment-383021
I might be excited and happy with the result, but you really know that most authentic way, so I would like to know your opinion, what if anything I should change?
thank you!
The rolls look great. The pretzel looked like it was in a tad too long. I like making big pretzels, and pretzels with air space in them, so the trick is to roll the rope longer than you think You need to. Looks good, great work!
thank you! You are right about the length, I made 24" and the ropes looked so long, and then when I shaped them, they became kind of on a smaller side...lol so thank you for the advise!
As to baking time, you are right, I baked the 2 pretzels and 2 rolls together, as I just had experimental small portion of them. But I should probably bake rolls and pretzels separately. This way they are same size...
again, thank you so much for your review and suggestions!