Pretzels, oh my

R

RobM

Member
GF's fathers 80th birthday tomorrow, he was born and raised in Germany. Have a small keg of German beer to share and made some pretzels as well as other things.

As much as I love pretzels, i've never made them as I thought they were difficult. They are decidedly easy to make, I used this recipe:
http://germanfood.about.com/od/bread/r/laugenbrezeln.htm

Didn't have any bread flour, all purpose only but the German GF gave them the two thumbs up. I always end up adding more water than the recipe calls for, generally have to wing it. I melted the butter to add to the dough. Once you have a firm dough, 3 oz balls - not 2. Roll them out to a 1/2 an inch, chill in the fridge, soak in the 3% lye solution, top with salt and bake the required time.

The outside gets a nice crunch, the inside is so light and fluffy.

Oh yeah, ended up baking them on cast iron :)
 
Cool. Probably the best present he's received in years. German pretzels and beer will be hard to beat. I smell a story or two. Have fun and Happy Birthday GF!

Hilditch
 
Well, the pretzels were a big hit. Made enough for all hands, but most of them kind of got squirrelled away in the freezer :eek: Some were cut up for samples. Been asked to make them for Christmas gifts. Helped cook supper, learned how to make Svineschnitzel and real perogies.

It was a good night, he's four score and healthy as an ox.
 
So cool! And you saved the lye solution for cleaning pans, right?


Actually, I was surprised to hear about the lye. I had heard that they used baking soda for that (which would probably have the same effect... both being weak alkaline solutions)
 
Dan Farmer said:
So cool! And you saved the lye solution for cleaning pans, right?


Actually, I was surprised to hear about the lye. I had heard that they used baking soda for that (which would probably have the same effect... both being weak alkaline solutions)
Click to expand...

Yeah, just strained it through a coffee filter :laughup:

The real laugenbrezel from what I understand uses lye, it gives the pretzel a different smell and texture. Think there was something missing in the recipe and I soaked them in a cold solution, should have been boiling.

I'm going to try these again - often, have to learn how to fold them properly. They tasted great but looked like little brown piles of dog poop.
 
Rob, hopefully you got real pretzel salt made especially to hold up under heat and a little moisture. I buy it on line and it works great on my kummelweck rolls.

Hilditch
 
Steven C said:
Rob,
I read the recipe and thought the same thing about using boiling water. Seems like I've read that in the past. I do like those but never tried them at home.

I found this recipe not long ago and added this to the list of things to try, they look good. This one calls for baking soda,

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/217962/jans-pretzel-dogs/
Click to expand...

I'll see your pretzel dogs and raise you some jalapeno-bacon stuffed pretzels: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/239743/jalapeno-bacon-stuffed-pretzel-dippers/
 
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