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Soft pretzel bites


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#1 Stains_not_here_man

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Posted 24 December 2018 - 11:56 AM

You can bake this into regular pretzels too... same dough and process. I just prefer to make bite size ones.

Based on Alton Brown's recipe with a couple modifications.

11 oz. AP flour
1 oz melted butter
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp instant yeast*
1.25 tsp kosher salt
3/4c water


30g pure lye
970ml water (distilled or spring water is best... I use tap water but it's very soft water.)

*under 5000ft altitude use 1.25tsp yeast. Over 7000ft use .75tsp yeast.

Mix the sugar, flour, salt, and yeast together.

Mix the melted butter and 3/4c water together.

Mix the wet and dry together until it turns into a ball of dough.

Knead by hand for about 6 minutes or use a stand mixer for about 5 minutes and you should have a nice supple dough.

Let rise in a warm place until double... about an hour.

Meanwhile heat the oven to 450F.

Cut the dough into equal pieces... I shoot for 25g of dough per piece. You can do whatever.... make O's or big pretzel shapes or sticks or hamburger buns, anything you want really.

Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper and a VERY heavy coat of nonstick spray.

Put the 970ml water into a glass 8" square casserole or similar. Add the 30g lye to get a 3% solution and stir until fully dissolved.

Put the dough balls in the lye solution and swirl it for 1 minute so the fluid circulates around them. If you are doing buns or pretzels put them in for 30 seconds per side.

Take them out with a slotted spoon and allow the excess lye to drip off then immediately transfer from the spoon to the prepared cookie sheet - work quickly here.

Once you have them on the sheet put it in the oven and cook for 6 minutes, then rotate the sheet for even baking and drop the oven temp to 425 and cook for about 4-6 more minutes. You'll know when they are done when they look right... nice and brown with little bit of cracking.

When done you have to IMMEDIATELY get them off the cookie sheet and on to a plate. You may burn your fingers... but if you're not quick they'll get stuck to the parchment and it's a bitch to peel off.

Might work better with a silicone baking mat (e.g. Silpat) in terms of sticking but i'm not sure how the lye might affect it.

This will ugly up your cookie sheet so pick one that you dedicate to pretzels and don't use your wife's shiny new one. I use a standard half sheet pan.

Edited by the_stain, 24 December 2018 - 11:56 AM.


#2 Stains_not_here_man

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Posted 24 December 2018 - 12:00 PM


You can top them with pretzel salt, sesame seeds, whatever. I spray a little water on them and sprinkle on the stuff.

#3 HVB

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Posted 26 December 2018 - 11:36 AM

Is the water room temp or warm for the lye bath?



#4 BrewerGeorge

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Posted 26 December 2018 - 11:51 AM

Lye won't hurt silicone, but it will screw up aluminum.



#5 Mindflux

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Posted 26 December 2018 - 11:52 AM

Lye.. my man! So glad I didn't see baking soda in here.



#6 AspenLeif

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Posted 26 December 2018 - 12:55 PM

i am so making these.  



#7 Stains_not_here_man

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Posted 26 December 2018 - 01:26 PM

Is the water room temp or warm for the lye bath?


Tap cold.

#8 AspenLeif

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Posted 19 January 2019 - 02:18 AM

Thanks for posting this. They are the best I’ve had yet.

#9 TonyBrown

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Posted 30 January 2019 - 10:38 PM

pretzels are something I wanna try, gonna give this a whirl soon



#10 Stains_not_here_man

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Posted 01 February 2019 - 06:21 PM

Making a batch right now... Think I might do pretzel buns with it.

#11 Felix Furbush

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Posted 01 February 2019 - 07:11 PM

Damn... Where’s can a get a small amount of lye without commiting to buying a “metric assload” worth?

#12 Stains_not_here_man

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Posted 01 February 2019 - 07:30 PM

Depends on how concerned you are about food grade

#13 Felix Furbush

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Posted 01 February 2019 - 08:22 PM

I want food grade, and I don’t need 5lbs cheap...

#14 Stains_not_here_man

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Posted 01 February 2019 - 09:13 PM

You're probably not going to find food grade in smaller quantities.



#15 AspenLeif

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Posted 03 February 2019 - 12:13 AM

Yeah man, these are a hit. 3rd time making them. To set the salt, I brushed clarified butter on them and sprinkled. The first ones were perfect. The ones that got rewarmed about 3 hours later in the toaster oven, were fucking Devine.

#16 BrewerGeorge

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Posted 03 February 2019 - 11:30 AM

You should be able to buy 2 lbs.

#17 MyaCullen

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Posted 03 February 2019 - 04:11 PM

I want food grade, and I don’t need 5lbs cheap...

4 oz (113 grams) $6.99

 

https://www.amazon.c...1&ref_=sv_hpc_2


Edited by miccullen, 03 February 2019 - 04:11 PM.


#18 Stains_not_here_man

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Posted 03 February 2019 - 04:12 PM

Yeah man, these are a hit. 3rd time making them. To set the salt, I brushed clarified butter on them and sprinkled. The first ones were perfect. The ones that got rewarmed about 3 hours later in the toaster oven, were ####ing Devine.


Awesome man, glad you like them.

#19 Felix Furbush

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Posted 03 February 2019 - 06:03 PM

You should be able to buy 2 lbs.


Sweet... That’s enough for 30 pretzel making sessions... Do you know how long it’s going to take to go through?

#20 Trub L

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Posted 04 February 2019 - 08:59 PM

Yeah man, these are a hit. 3rd time making them. To set the salt, I brushed clarified butter on them and sprinkled. The first ones were perfect. The ones that got rewarmed about 3 hours later in the toaster oven, were ####ing Devine.

If you buy pretzel salt, you can just put it on before they go in the oven.


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