Pretzel disappointment

Well, after my utter failure of my first attempt at twisting pretzels, where I couldn't even get around to rolling out the dough properly because it was too soft, I had another go. I consulted the internet and found out I should have used a firmer dough, and discovered that it was better, but still not great.

My worktop is too smooth, so the dough slides and I found myself pushing the rolls of dough across it rather than rolling them out. Rolling them on a wooden board was much better, but the board wasn't wide enough for the long strands.

I need to think of something else. And I thought this would be the easy part.

Pretzel fail

One of the things I have been meaning to get around to for some time is making some pretzels. Not the crunchy twiglet-type things you get in packets, but proper Bavarian-style, fresh, soft bread pretzels.

You can't buy them at bakeries here so the only thing to do is make my own.

I thought the hard part would be finding a source of food-grade caustic soda (the shaped pretzels are dipped in a weak solution of this before baking, which is what gives them their glossy brown skin).

But as I found out, the really difficult part is shaping them. Making an even sausage of dough is more difficult than it looks.



The professionals make it look so easy (thanks to www.brezel-baecker.de for the video)!

I used my normal yeasted bread dough of about 65% hydration. Maybe I should try it with a firmer dough. In fact, I've just found a recipe for pretzel dough with just 50% hydration so I'll try that next.