Pretzel
Brezel actually. Ok, let‘s stick with pretzel. The taste is just about the same.
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The best pretzel you could possibly ever buy for money was at the Seifert bakery near Laupheim where I grew up. I can still hear my mother’s voice when she raved about the buttered pretzels from this bakery. They were just world class.
When I make pretzels, I recall the Seifert ones and I am well aware that mine won’t ever be as good. But at least I can try – and they keep getting better.
The Swabian pretzel has thin arms and a thick belly. The arms become very crispy when baked and the belly is crispy on the outside and moist on the inside.
This is my third attempt. The crust is already relatively smooth, the arms are getting thinner and the geometry is becoming more even.
The small bubbles show that I need to work faster, as the proofing had already started again after I had soaked it in the bicarbonate of soda and salted the belly. Longish cracks in the crust show that the surface of the dough piece had already dried slightly before the pretzel was given its final shape.
Which flour? I used Italian tipo 00 by Caputo, comparable to German type 550, because I had so much left. That’s why the pretzel was fluffy and moist. With 405 I would expect a drier pretzel. I’ll have to try it out.
Swabian Brezel
I take
flour – 500g (type 550, tipo 00)
water – 270g
butter – 25g
salt – 10g
sugar – 15g
yeast – 20g
Dissolve the yeast in the cold water, add the sugar and salt, then add everything to the flour. Add the butter and knead slowly for 5 minutes, then quickly for 7 minutes, preferably using a machine. Cover and leave to rise for a maximum of 10 minutes. The dough should not dry out so that the pretzels later have a smooth skin.
Cut off pieces of 90g and round them, cover and leave to relax for 10 minutes. I use pizza dough ball boxes with a height of 7 cm. They usually fit well in the fridge if you make some space beforehand.
Form the dough pieces to a length of about 30 cm and then shape the pretzels. I roll the dough pieces into sausage-like shapes of about 80 cm long, which are much thinner on the outside than in the middle.
The challenge here is that the dough must not dry out until the final form, but it must also be relaxed so that it can be shaped.
I’m not yet able to twist the pretzels with my wrist. So I lay them on the table and twist them lying down.
I place the formed pretzel dough pieces in the balling box and leave them to rise for another 20 minutes. They are then placed in the fridge to cool for two hours. The cool dough retains its shape when it is later dipped in the baking soda and cut.
I use real caustic soda, as it can be cold when the pretzel dough pieces are dipped. After dipping, the dough pieces are cut along the belly and sprinkled with salt there – and only there.
Preheat the oven to 240 degrees Celsius and bake the pretzels for 12 minutes until they are nicely colored.
Caustic soda can cause severe harm to your skin or eyes. Always use protective gear as in gloves and goggles.
I take sodium hydroxide 50% and dilute it to a 4% solution: add 80g (approx. 53ml) of sodium hydroxide 50% to 920g of water. The caustic lye is stored in a container with clear labelling to prevent accidents.