The Best Homemade Soft Pretzels 

We in Germany have a saying for mixing water with lye: "Erst das Wasser, dann die Lauge, sonst geht es ins Auge!" In English: "First the water, then the lye, otherwise you'll loose an eye!"

“Fat little torpedo”. My nickname in high school

The sodium hydroxide solution simply chemically gelatinizes the starch on the surface of the pretzel, when baked this more easily undergoes caramelization. You can simply dip your pretzels into boiling water for 10 seconds or so, does the exact same thing. Lye is easy enough to find but food grade lye ain't as easy. Obviously some may easily be food grade but they might not think of putting it on the packaging. Just boil the damn water, I find it gives the dough a bit of extra raise. Also, in Romania, we've got this thing we put on pretzels called a salt glaze. You dissolve a teaspoon of salt in some water, add half a teaspoon of flour and stir it till it's homogeneous, and then before you pop your pretzels into the oven, you drizzle a few lines of it on 'em, it dries and crusts up in the oven, makes for a surprisingly satisfying topping. One of my biggest disappointments in life, has been eating one of those tiny pretzels or a pretzel stick that had all the big ass salt crystals fall off of it. You can't do a salt glaze on those damn things but you can do it on a big ass pretzel so don't waste the opportunity y'all. No one's gonna read this but I had some shit on my chest man :'o

Hey everybody, I actually worked at a pretzel bakery for about four years and thought this would be a good place for some pro tips. I also just like reminiscing about the good ol' days working in pretzel heaven. 1. I found that if you put your yeast and water solution into the mixer and then put your dry ingredients in after then turn on the mixer it actually combines everything really well (this was useful when we had other things going on in the bakery) 2. Your pretzels will bake really nicely if your strand is uniform in diameter before you twist. 3. You can actually twist the pretzels in the air with a simple wrist flick if you're feeling confident :) 4. For safety purposes, we always used sodium bicarbonate in our dipping solution and the pretzels always turned out a delicious golden brown color when fully cooked. 5. My preferred pretzel dipping options: Cream Cheese (trust me), Queso, Savory compound butter (Josh's black garlic recipe would be a good option) 6. If you want to go the dessert route sprinkle on powdered sugar instead of salt after baking and dip in melted chocolate. You can also keep it classic and cover your pretzels in cinnamon sugar some people liked to dip these in a sugary glaze but I always thought cream cheese was the better dip here. Josh totally killed it in this video and these will 4 sure be some dank pretzels if you follow his instructions, I hope my comment helps some of you on your respective pretzel journeys.

Joshua: "But you know what else is going to have it's own Octoberfest?" Me, whispering: "B-roll" Joshua: *"B-roll"* _Drool_

To get a better result with baking soda, bake your baking soda on a parchment lined baking sheet in the oven for 30 minutes at 300 degrees F. The baking soda becomes more alkaline creating a darker crust that regular baking soda will hot achieve. It also helps if you boil the pretzels as you would a bagel. The result is a denser, chewier inside and crisp outside. I use this method instead if lye as I dont want it around my wild children.

Small but VERY important note when you're working with sodium hydroxide: immediately wash off any spills you get on your hand. It will slowly attack your skin, and can easily cause permanent flesh damage if left on for a night. I work in a lab, as a student, and it has happened here to the most naive guy who didn't think it would be necessary to wash it off. The concentration of this sodium hydroxide solution is extremely basic. Josh, please pin this. You can't leave this out

I‘m not only German but Bavarian ( holy grale of Beer and pretzels) and I now will Talk for every Bavarian : We are really glad that you are around making those lovely videos. 👏🏽👏🏽 Well done mister white-man Ps.: I love youre channel 😍

Alton Brownn Jr has blessed us once again. Thank you!

you should make sauerkraut. i mean its fermented and im curious if you can master it im german we did that stuff in primary school... not very pleasent... yeah it was way too sour.

I made them! They were awesome, but because I was using the baking soda (couldn't find lye) I found that the two batches I made, with baking soda, it worked better to make a boiling solution with the same ratios, and submerge each pretzel in there for about 2 minutes and then bake. Might be an idea for those who are using baking soda :)

As a german - i‘m proud of you. These are amazingly authentic!

Hey Josh, fun fact from a family of chemists; Lye is really basic you need that high pH to get that that signature pretzel taste, baking soda is a pH is much lower, but in a pinch, to bump up the pH of your baking soda, you can get your oven roaring hot and bake, baking soda for an hour, this turns it into caustic soda, a higher pH closer to lye. You'll get a better pretzel (but lye is still king!)

I'm from Munich (the hometown of the Oktoberfest) and I've eaten quite a few pretzels growing up, and these look awesome 👌🏼 Keep up the great work brother!

i LOVE the variety on this channel, joshua. u never fail to surprise.

I just took my pretzels out of the oven.... Oh my goodness. They are lovely and browned. So beautiful. I was scared of using lye, but it definitely makes the difference and baking soda does not compare. Thank you for the recipe!

Annie’s pretzels is shaking

Saw the video, immediately clicked - I need my B-Roll fix. Joshua's good too. I would DEVOUR these pretzels - they look so good!

I am going to make them tomorrow. I ordered the supplies from your links on Amazon. They look amazing! I made them...and they are the Absolute BEST!!!

I randomly answer “b roll” to question now.... thanks for ruining my brain

I‘m from munich, bavaria and this looks like a legit breze you could buy there!

Haha, im german and your Name could also translate to "you know" if that gives you a better feel😂

all your videos teach me so much and actually makes me want to get into the kitchen and start trying all your recipes!

I love pretzels 🥨.. one of my favorite snacks. I also have made several of your recipes and I’m thinking this one will be next as they all come out very delicious. Your 30 minute pickle recipe is actually the bomb pickle recipe.. 👍

This looks delicious. Now let's get a condiment series! I need some good stuff to dip my pretzels into

Thanks, Joshua! I always wanted to know how to make pretzels although I'm a German 😂

Just made my first batch ever and daaaamn thats good! Thanks for the vid man

I was SOoooo happy to see this topic pop up in my notifications!!! I was going to ask you to make them after watching (and rewatching, and rewatching) your bagel video. Thank you so much for reading my mind! I hope you have a great time in SF. Take care.

I saw this a lot on ur instagram,it’s about time😂😂

I would love to see a pumpkin pie made from fresh white pumpkin. Love the videos!

Beautiful! Love that crisp brown color & texture.

Just made these, recipe absolutely nails it. Thanks Joshua

You are talking faster and faster I have to slow motion the videos!! I am old, Swiss and speak French you see.. so gosh.. have pity! I love so much your work and your videos - thanks anyway because you are very talented - and very good at filming and editing. I sometimes have to stop your videos, to breathe - think of what is being said (by you) and then carry on watching.. Breathing is good. I am a fan, no worry, for sure.

I'm a German and those pretzels look much better than the ones in the bakery.

It's absolutely amazing, just made them with baking soda and came out perfectly good, love from Japan ❤ thank you

YAY! You are in on what I've been snickering about since I discovered your channel.

I like this channel because Joshua Weissman is the only person ever to use grams AND farenheit :) he knows what we want

"His breath reeked of beer and pretzeled bread!" - C. Montgomery Burns

These were amazing. Lye made a huge difference, worth it. Thanks again Joshua! If I didn’t already have 3 great kids I’d adopt you!

So glad you made this video. While watching a cooking competition last night I tried to tell my wife that lye was used in making pretzels. You can imagine that this was met with stinky-eye and doubt. Thanks for the confirmation!

Yo Joshua, you should look into two things: 1. ciabatta 2. Pan pizza, so grandma/sicilian style, deep dish pizza, detroit, the goods ya know?

His last name being “Weissman” suggests that he had a German ancestor whose most notable feature was being white.

I'm Bavarian and these are really good pretzles. Look pretty much like the once we make here. Good job!

Viele danke for the pretzel recipe. I have already ordered diastatic malt powder and food grade NaOH. In high school I worked with NaOH, strong HCl or H2SO4 and other strong or weak bases and acids. We didn't even wear gloves. We were just careful, and nothing bad happened. But that was so long time ago. Happy pretzels!

you should make something called "Obazda", a mixture of cream cheese, camembert, cumin and other great stuff and works perfectly well with Pretzels!!

„A thousand grams of cold water“ That’s also a Liter you know

Excellent instruction and results. Thanks whitey!

OMG You are just AWESOME making your bagels... and now just saw this pretzels one and pondering...

he’s so cute. i could watch him cook all day

Actually just researched this. 150 in the oven for an hour of baking soda. (Don’t use aluminum or it will react with the metal, so glass.) that’ll increase the ph of your baking soda. Also useful for ramen noodle making.

I was just thinking about pretzels yesterday and I ate a pretzel stick the day before yesterday. So I see this video today! How serendipitous is that!? I was actually thinking about looking up how to make some, too!!! How cool is that!!! 💖💖💖😁😁😁 Strangely enough, that's how your videos come to me. I think about making a certain dish or food and your videos of it comes up in my feed before I ever actually seek out my information! 🤣😁😌🤔🙃🙃🙃 I LOVE LIFE!!!

Love your videos. My mom and I both made perfect sourdough starter from your video and have sense been making all your recipes.

In your videos could you include an alternative to using a stand mixer for some recipes

Me: trying to lose weight Also me: watches loads of Josh’s videos then make the recipe.

A original bavarian here: everyhing all right, well done! Love your videos, keep it up! Greetings from Germany ✌

You have no idea how much I love you for always mentioning the weight in grams.

Me: Could anyone be any whiter than me? Joshua Weissman: Hold my home-brewed beer.

"These pretzels are making me thirsty"

made your pretzels today cuz quarantine and really enjoyed them! thanks for the recipe :)

I love wondering when my favorite RU-vidr is going to post and seeing a notification that they already posted. Bless.

"Weiss" in you last name could also be a reference to "wheat" in a non-standard dialect of German. In Standard German wheat is "Weizen", but the word "Weissbier" references a wheat beer, not a white beer.

I haven’t seen anyone post a full version of the recipe written out so, here it is! I wrote this for myself so sorry if there are errors. Soft pretzels: Dough: 4 cups flour 1.5 tsp butter 1.5 tsp yeast 1.5 cups hot water Pinch of salt Lye solution: 4 cups cool water 2 tablespoons lye Add yeast to hot water let sit for 10 mins Now go to your mixer attach dough hook and add flour+ salt to bowl Add yeast to flour and mix till dough starts to form Add butter Mix till nice n smooth Shape into ball and leave in bowl for 10 minutes with a damp towel overtop Cut into 8 even pieces and put on greased baking tray and cover with damp towel for 15 minutes Shape pretzels on floured counter Put on greased and parchment paper covered baking sheet and cover with damp towel. Let rise for 30 mins Put in fridge for 1 hour or overnight Set oven to 425 10 minutes before pretzels are taken out of fridge Add lye to water and get safety gear on Take pretzels out and dip into lye water for 10 seconds Let drip off excess then put on greased baking sheet with parchment Put in oven for 15-20 minutes til golden brown Boom. Pretzel.

Both the Sodium hydroxide and the Breadtopia Diastatic Barley Malt Powder used in the recipe are great products. I also use the sodium hydroxide in my homemade milk soaps. And homemade pretzels are amazing!

I just honestly hope that josh knows he is one of the most respected and funniest RU-vidrs, love you bro!!!! Never stop!!!

"White Man - Great" I LMFAO!

Literally no one: Joshua: my last name is german And as the king of extra, it means white man

I'm sitting here doing my kombucha first ferment, searing a steak with butter, eating it with a side of home made lacto hot sauce, and them I'm going to have a lacto pickle and read a chapter of the Noma Guide all because of this channel. Thanks for a cool fun new hobby Josh

Your channel is getting biiiiigg, hopefully gonna hit 500.000 by the end of the year!

Don't use flaky salt for pretzels. Just a suggestion from your angry neighborhood german.

BRETZEL *'raging in German'*

Nice video as always, I've done a few of your recipes lately came out pretty good! I wouldn't mind to get a video for bread sticks!

Now in quarantine, is the best time to make pretzels 😍

I’m not used to the new mic. Btw I love your hipster lifestyle no homo

Is it me, but I prefer pretzels unsalted?

I felt so glad that when I lookes for pretzels, you were a recommendation

I never write any comment but man do I need to tell you how much I love your video. I discovered your channel thanks to sourdough I find myself enjoying the vids more and more. thank you so much for all that commitment :)

1000 grams of cold water - Joshua Weissman, 2019

when an american tries to use the metric system: “1000 grams of water” dude, that’s a liter…

2:09 this is why I love this man. Thank you chef

Thank you for the metric measurements. So much easier.

Lol I thought you were Jewish not German since many Jews have their surnames ending with -man..and I agree the surnames sound more German than Jewish

@1:00 So whats wrong with your name meaning "white man"... please do ellaborate...

I have been binge watching, and i love it. RU-vid needs to add another thumbs up on your channel for b roll...

Cannot wait to make these!

Great vid. Like watching your videos even though i barely touch the kitchen. Only time i go is to open the fridge.

Looks amazing and yummy 😋👍👊🙋‍♀️thanks

Looking forward to making these. I have a bunch of kansui (baked baking soda/sodium carbonate) that should be somewhere between the lye and baking soda for high alkalinity

The dough looks right, also the important part to freeze it, is done right. The skin looks a little bubbly, but has the right crust. Inside you've got the right texture also. I'm from swabia so i prefer another shape. It's a regional thing. I like the bottom part thick and the ends thin. Adding flaked salt is interesting. I would like to try it.

Those look amazing

Literally obsessed with your videossss!!! Like I have two peoples notifications on on RU-vid and you’re one of em!!

i was so ready for a baking soda bath for pretzels but i was not disappointed whatsoever with lye! it’s the way i’ve been making mine forever (courtesy of philly soft pretzels)

Oh boy oh boy that production level is getting way to elite!

This is the video I’ve been waiting my whole life for!🤤 (I’m German btw. and I whole-heartedly approve!)

JW you are becoming a pro at introductions. Take a bow!!!!! 😀😀😀

I am German. Gotta admit, I clicked thumbs up at the beginning, because I knew it will be a great one. It was. You rock!

Josh: YOU'RE THE BEST COOK OF ALL TIMES!

5:38 the transitions just keep getting better Josh (jk I love your videos so much)

loveeee your videos, you deserve more subscribers

Joshua you're killing me this is amazing

😍 those are some gorgeous pretzels