I got the idea to make pretzels from when I would roll out my preferment like a rope to cut up and put it in my dough. I kept looking at it and thinking that it would make a good pretzel. Today I finally baked some pretzels. My neighbor said they were a million times better than the pretzels they sell at the fair. Since I have never had a soft pretzel I guess they must of been good. I searched the internet and my books for a recipe and didn't find one that I liked so I made my own. Here is the info on the dough.
1st Preferment Build Grams Percent
Starter 8.33 50.00%
Flour 16.67 100.00%
Water 10.00 60.00%
Total 1st Build 35.00 210.00%
8 to 12 hours later.
2nd Preferment Build
Starter 1st build 35.00 53.90%
Flour 64.93 100.00%
Water 38.96 60.00%
Total 2nd Build 138.89 213.90%
8 hours later
Dough Formula
Flour 555.56 100.00%
Water 333.33 60.00%
Salt 11.11 2.00%
Preferment 2nd Build 138.89 25.00%
Olive Oil 11.11 2.00%
Total 1050.00 189.00%
I let it start fermenting then stuck it in the fridge over night. The next morning I took it out for all day. When I got home from work I started making pretzels. The dough was divided into 10 pieces. Then I rolled the pieces out into the ropes and made my pretzel shapes. When they were all formed I dropped them into boiling baking soda water. I used a quart of water and 4 tablespoons of baking soda. When I pulled them out of the water I set them on a drying rack and sprinkled salt on them. I used two different kinds of salt with one being more course than the other one. While the pretzels were boiling the oven was heating up to 450°F. I baked them on the high rack for 13 minutes. Making pretzels is simple and easy to do so I might do them more often. They taste great too.
[img]http://sourdough.com/gallery2/gallery/d/12358885-1/P4171024.JPG[/img]
With course salt.
![http://sourdough.com/gallery2/gallery/d/12358885-1/P4171024.JPG[/img]](https://sourdough.com/gallery2/gallery/d/12358885-1/P4171024.JPG[/img]){kind=link}
[img]http://sourdough.com/gallery2/gallery/d/12358887-1/P4171025.JPG[/img]
With fine salt.
![http://sourdough.com/gallery2/gallery/d/12358887-1/P4171025.JPG[/img]](https://sourdough.com/gallery2/gallery/d/12358887-1/P4171025.JPG[/img]){kind=link}
Replies
We should have a bake-off!
TP
Of course we should have a bake off. You know anyone that organizes such events?
:D
Let's wait a bit for the forum to recover from its current hiccup. Ho hum...will give you a handicap of a dozen pretzels or so.
TP
We could still get ready, right... So LD where did your recipe come from? What flour are you using? They really look pretty yummy!
Terri
The recipe is my own creation. I figured that 60% hydration, 25% preferment, 2% salt, and 2% Olive Oil would be a good starting point. I used Pillsbury's AP flour and I was surprised at how strong it was. When I was trying to roll out the ropes they kept springing back when I let go. I was told not to change the recipe since it is perfect. I think a bake off would let people explore some areas of tweaking the recipe or come up with their own. I should take a picture of the crumb it has some really nice holes in it which I wasn't expecting.