Pretzels

Toast
Winnish on 13 May 2011 at 06:15

 

Delicious and easy-to-make PRETZELS


 

Recipe and more photos - you are invited to check at my blog
It's in Hebrew, Google translator is on top left side-bar 

Profile picture for user breadforfun

breadforfun on 13 May 2011 at 15:03

Hi, loved your post.  Pretzles are lots of fun to make.  I presume your bake temperature is in Centigrade (˚C).  235˚C = 455˚F.

I also got a good laugh from the translator - the "boiling" step prior to baking was translated as "baptism."  Too funny.

 

Thank you!
Yes - temperature is in centigrade.

I agree - the translating something makes me laugh.
Challah - which is Jewish bread (my specialty) is translated to "apply"  

Hi Winnie,

Apropos of this discussion on pretzels, I came across this article from Harold McGee several months ago.  He recommends that instead of baking soda as a substitute for lye in cooking, you can use what he calls "baked soda."  Here is a link to the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/15/dining/15curious.html?ref=dining&pagewanted=print .  As I understand it, heating baking soda to 250-300˚F (120-150˚C) for an hour converts the sodium bicarbonate in the soda to sodium carbonate, which is more alkaline and so it achieves a reaction that is closer to commercial baking with lye.  It is something that I have wanted to try for pretzels but haven't gotten around to it yet.  You may want to have a look to see if it is of any interest to you.  I'd be curious what you learn if you do give it a try.

Brad

You got a nice, dark color even without using a strong alkali. Using the translator, it appears that you added sugar to the water for simmering...is that correct? That may account for the nice color. I stopped using the baking soda method 30 years ago, because it didn't produce the results I wanted. I had only one recipe back then (before the internet) and there was no mention of putting sugar in the 'bath'. I use the 'scary' Brezellauge, now, but adding sugar is a good 'trick' to remember. Nice web-site you have, too!

Cheers,

copyu 

 

and it means Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH)

There is a lot of controversial discussion about this issue on 'pretzel-related' threads and I'm almost exhausted reading and talking about it!

[Recently, someone also mentioned that we shouldn't use 'Kosher salt' on our pretzels and gave a convincing argument as to why not, but I can't remember the reasons...] Please wear flame-proof body-armor if you join these discussions!

Meanwhile, just keep up the great baking and blogging...

Best,

copyu

 

Oh, no wonder I didn't understand :)

Thanks for the warning! It's not for me to try and participate in these kinds of arguments (I'm too sensitive).

I only know kosher-salt, as I only use kosher food and we don't even have a non-kosher salt here.

BTW - I've just uploaded a new post to my blog (but nothing to do with yeast)