GIANT PRETZEL

Chasing purpose.

I know you just got a Curio this week, but here’s a little bonus. This is a large variation on the pretzel buns I did last year. Rather than shaping into shorter tubes for sausages or hot dogs, I’m shaping into large pretzels—a sheet tray can only hold two. If you didn’t make the buns yet, you should. You could even make a blend of buns and these large pretzels if you prefer. Again, details for the buns as well as some context for the recipe is here. The short story is that it’s a soft dough, hydrated with some beer (or all water, you choose) as well as a little sourdough (there is also a no-sourdough option). We ate these this week with a cheddar fondue with chipotle honey on top, I recommend that. But before the recipe, a few words about the game this weekend.

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Where I grew up football is a religion. Friday nights, stadium lights—if you ever watched the Peter Berg football series (you should), you might already have a sense of how the ritual of boom and bust, heaven and hell, team and town, plays out in services across America each fall. But even if you don’t know what a pigskin is, elements of our sport-obsessed human condition might still cross your borders. Fanatic fans (looking at my soccer friends) certainly trot the globe.

A couple years ago I was at the Texas Book Festival and heard the journalist and author, Sebastian Junger, speak. Known for works like A Perfect Storm, his Afghan war reporting, and the crushing documentary Restrepo, to say that his stories are riveting doesn’t quite capture it.

My take-away, or the thing that I still find myself turning over, years after I heard him speak, was what he said about purpose. In his time with soldiers, both in war zones and at home, the theme he often encountered when meeting men and women that had risked everything only to return home wounded, scarred, and forever changed was that in almost every case they wanted one thing: To go back.

Regardless of the suffering and in spite of all that time in bunkers under threat, working supply lines, suffering through loss, administering care, or just burning toxic trash, they longed for more. More intensity, more duty, more belonging, more moments spent in tight confines with the company of others.

In almost every way their experiences have nothing to do with football. But, tomorrow is the Super Bowl, and while I have no intention of equating a game with true sacrifice, I am thinking about small parallels, especially the idea of purpose.

As fans, even itinerant ones like myself—whether we grew up playing the game or, still can’t figure out why there’s so much starting and stopping—one reason we watch is the sense of purpose. Commitment, passion, effort, team. One job, one goal, everything outside the seconds between snap and whistle, irrelevant. Purpose. In those moments, to me, it’s not football, or soccer. It’s not chess, NASCAR, glassblowing, knitting, or even seeing patients. It’s flow, it’s focus. It’s connection, community, clarity, and meaning. It’s also baking.

When I run my hand through a bowl of starter and water to start my mix, or roll a laminated dough, I’m directed. My worries, my distractions, my catastrophizing, all pushed away by the task at hand. I belong to the dough and it belongs to me. In spite of all the dropped balls, I have purpose.

So, whether my year is high highs, fumbles, penalties, or successful two-point conversions, what I’m telling myself is to chase my purpose. To honor and take joy in the inspired purpose of others. And, to frame my own struggles with gratitude for the purpose of others. Thank you.

Here’s a snack for the game, whatever match you choose.

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GIANT PRETZEL

Yield: Three giant pretzels

Water, warm, 150g
Beer, room temperature (5.5% abv or less), 150g (Use water or a NA beer if you prefer.)
Sugar, 14g
Yeast, instant, 3g (1 t)
Egg, whole, 50g (one medium)
Butter, melted, 28g (bacon fat, rendered chicken fat, or lard work well, too)
Sourdough culture* (liquid levain), 54g (see my notes, below)

Ingredients, the dough after mixing, and the dough after a 20 minute rest and short knead.

In a medium bowl whisk everything together until homogenous and frothy, then gather the dry ingredients.

*A couple quick notes about the sourdough. While you can set a sourdough preferment (all- purpose flour, 20g, water, 20g, and culture, 14g) and let it ripen overnight, you may also use discard. Or, lacking sourdough culture you can make a poolish (all-purpose flour, 27g, water, 27g, a pinch of yeast) and let it ripen overnight. For those of you who want the full sourdough treatment (you know my feelings on this: with or without commercial yeast — it’s all baking), you may omit the yeast but the bulk rise and final proof should both be extended significantly as the quantity of flour in the preferment is relatively low.

Bread flour, (12.7% protein), 513g
Whole grain flour, 27g (this can be anything from whole rye to whole wheat, spelt, or semolina, even cornmeal, it’s purpose is to bring color, texture, and flavor)
Salt, fine, 8g

Stir the dry ingredients into the wet with the handle end of a wooden spoon, then switch to a flexible scraper. Clean the sides of the bowl as you press and fold the dough. Once homogeneous with no dry spots remaining, cover and rest for 20 minutes. During the rest the dough will transform from a shaggy mass, strengthening as the flours hydrate.

After the rest, using a wet hand, firmly knead the dough in the bowl until smooth, about one minute. Cover and rest until slightly puffy, 60 to 90 minutes. Up to two hours is fine.

There are many options for the divide. In the pretzel roll piece I offer some bun shapes, here, I’m making large pretzels.

To divide the dough, place on a lightly-floured surface and cut into pieces weighing about 333g each.

You can also make pretzel rolls with this dough. Details are here.

Roll each piece tightly into a tube then, leaving a bump of untouched dough in the middle, about 4” to 5” wide, roll to a length of 34” to 36”. Here’s a reel of me shaping them. I use the flip method for the final portion, and it’s admittedly hard to see or emulate without practice. There’s another method which keeps the dough on the bench, see Maurizio do it here. The one difference that you’ll note with what I do is that I twist the “arms” twice before pressing the ends gently to adhere—I like the look of that. Last, keep an eye out over on Instagram where I’ll add some additional video content of the boiling process.

After shaping, preheat the oven to 450°F, then prepare the boiling liquid and gather tools. You’ll need slotted spoons for transferring the pretzels after boiling, a baker’s lame for scoring the rolls, coarse salt (pretzel salt, coarse salt, or kosher salt) for garnish, and two half sheet trays lined with parchment and sprinkled with a light, even coating of cornmeal or semolina.

Proof the pretzels covered until they lighten slightly, about 30 to 45 minutes. If you proof them until fully marshmallowy handling will become MUCH more difficult. For easiest handling, after they rise for 20 minutes or so you can chill them in the fridge for up to a few hours, covered. As they chill they will firm up slightly.

Water, 1,800g (about 2 quarts)
Salt, 18g
Baking soda, 57g (about 1/4 cup)

In a large low pot (mine is 10” wide and 3” high) combine the water, salt, and baking soda and bring to a low boil, whisking to combine. Small bubbles are fine, a rolling boil is too much. (The large pot with lower sides will be easier to get these monsters in and out of.)

One quick advisory. Handling the pretzels is tricky. They are large, soft, and challenging. To turn them I’ve been using two fish spatulas. If I had a giant “spider” tool, that would be perfect. I do not. If you fumble them coming out of the water, it’s ok. Do your best to reform them and give the “arms” an extra press if they come unadhered (mine often do!).

Once proofed, working one at a time and gently stretch to enlarge (with your hands, holding them in mid-air). Gently lower the them into the hot water, one at a time. (One note here, I recommend baking two pretzels on the first sheet tray. Get those in the oven after boiling, scoring, and salting, then concentrate on the third. Once they are out of the water you want to score, salt, and load quickly.)

Simmer for about 30 seconds per side, gently turning them at the halfway point. After the brief boil, place them onto the trays, distributing them evenly. Two of these will barely fit on a half sheet tray. Garnish with coarse salt then score with the lame and load into the oven. While the first batch begins to bake, boil and process the remaining pretzel.

Bake until chestnut brown and beautiful, 18 to 22 minutes, rotating as necessary. If you’re unsure about how much color is appropriate, have a look at the photos here for reference. The pH of the baking soda in the water (similar to lye) helps the rolls to brown during baking—don’t be fooled into thinking they are burning, the full bake and robust color is appropriate and optimal. And, they will soften after the bake.

As I note in the opening of the piece, we had ours plain or, one evening my wife made a cheddar fondue. I drizzled a smoky chipotle honey over the top of the warm cheddar and we ate it standing up. Too good to even sit down for.