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leeapeea's avatar

I've always used baking soda, but if I were to try lye does that solution also get boiled or just dip at room temperature? Are there any safety precautions that should be taken? My understanding of lye is solely informed by the Fight Club movie lol.

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Martin Philip's avatar

“The first rule of” *pretzel making* with lye is no boiling. It’s very caustic and can blind you. But, during baking it neutralizes and the texture, color, and flavor cannot be beaten. Here’s a good reference! https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2021/05/20/a-bakers-tips-for-safely-working-with-lye

Hope you guys are beating the heat, Leah!

M

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Karen's avatar

I love your recipe and I'm wondering if it's possible to substitute the butter with a neutral oil like canola. Would that work?

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Martin Philip's avatar

Yes, definitely. Or a plant-based product like margarine, or similar. No problem.

Enjoy!

Martin

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Clare Dragonfly's avatar

Perfect timing, Martin! This showed up in my inbox the same day my sisters showed up at our vacation rental with burgers for the next day. I had already fed Bunhilde, my sourdough starter, so I was all ready to go! I made round buns for the burgers and they were delicious. My six-year-old son gave them two thumbs up.

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Martin Philip's avatar

This is so great! 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

Bunhilde, best sourdough name ever!

M

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Luna Shteingrad's avatar

Are your buns made with baking soda?? Never in my life I got this color without lye!

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Martin Philip's avatar

Hey Luna, yes! Recipe is above! Everything pictured is with baking soda. 👍🏻

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Soli's avatar

I made these today and the flavor is wonderful. I had trouble with the scoring though. After putting them in the warm lye bath they were hard to handle I couldn’t get clean cuts like yours in the photo. Do you think this is because they were over proofed or my water was too hot?

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Martin Philip's avatar

Hey soli, thanks for the note. First, make sure you’re not using warm water and lye together—that’s important as you don’t want to breathe that solution. However, a baking soda solution with the warm water is fine.

If the pretzels didn’t open, try going with less proof, or less time in the solution. As with any bread, experience will help you as you learn. Enjoy the pretzels!

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Soli's avatar

I made another round today and they are absolutely perfect. It was definitely my water temp and proof that did me in last time. Thank you for getting back to me!

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