RecipePretzel Time

Episode Description

Join us as our host Dan DaRocha and Chris Houle, an experienced baker and sales consultant at Erika Baking Equipment tackle the iconic pretzel! Watch the process from start to finish and be sure to get our bonus recipe!

Dough Ingredients
Metric Recipe
High Gluten Flour – 5,080 g
Water – 2,680 g
Yeast (Fresh) – 186 g
Salt – 100 g
Butter – 227 g
Molasses – 100 g

Standard Recipe
High Gluten Flour – 11 lb, 3 oz
Water – 5 lb, 14.5 oz
Yeast (Fresh) – 6.5 oz
Salt – 3.5 oz
Butter – 8 oz
Molasses – 3.5 oz

Lye Bath Ingredients
Metric Recipe
Lye Pellets – 127.5 g
Water – 4 liters

Standard Recipe
Lye Pellets – 4.5 oz
Water – 1 gallon

Methodology

Mixing
This is a straight mix, add all your ingredients into a Spiral Mixer and mix for 3 minutes on low and 5 minutes on high.

Dividing
After mixing, immediately scale and divide your dough according to the desired weight of your pretzel.

Preshaping
Preshape each divided piece of dough into a 4 in. (10 cm) oblong piece of dough.

Forming & Shaping
Roll each strand of dough into a 36 in. (91 cm) strand and twist into a pretzel shape.

Retarding
Refrigerate shaped pretzels overnight on parchment paper.

Protective Gear
Prior to preparing the lye bath solution you must wear protective eyewear and gloves to avoid serious injury.

Lye Bath Preparation
With protective gear on, place lye pellets into a bowl. Next, bring water to a boil and carefully pour over lye pellets. Finally let the solution cool until only warm.

Lye Bath Process
With protective gear still on, submerge each pretzel in lye solution for 20 seconds. Drain excess solution from pretzel and place onto baking sheets with silicon baking mats or parchment paper sprayed with pan release.

Salting
Sprinkle pretzel with salt immediately after lye bath (optional).

Baking
Bake in a preheated convection oven at 350°F for 15 – 20 minutes. Total baking times and temperatures may vary according to your oven, altitude and baking environment.

Cool & Serve
Enjoy your freshly baked croissants. Yields approximately 54, 5.3 oz. pretzels.

About Erika Baking Equipment

Erika Baking Equipment is the leading manufacturer and distributor of retail/commercial bakery equipment. For over 20 years, we have provided our customers with both excellent equipment and outstanding customer service. Our products include: bagel/bread/roll slicers, bread and roll systems, cake slicers, cookie presses, depositors, divider/rounders, mixers, sheeters/makeup tables, ovens, and more!