Pretzel pearls for pretzel pastries, 150 g

Pretzel pearls for pretzel pastries

For the typical lye flavor and the beautiful brown crust, pretzels and rolls must be dipped in lye or brushed with it very briefly before baking. As caustic soda is highly corrosive, we ask you to always wear safety goggles and chemical-resistant plastic gloves and to read the safety instructions below beforehand.

Lye beads - safety instructions and disposal

The use of lye is not dangerous as long as the necessary measures are taken and sufficient caution is exercised. Even highly diluted lye can still cause blindness if it gets into the eyes, and skin burns can occur. You should therefore always wear a Safety goggles and chemical-resistant Gloves carry. When mixing the lye, always add the beads to the cold water, never add water to the beads, otherwise an explosive reaction will occur.

Children should not be allowed in the kitchen when working with caustic soda; afterwards, the caustic soda must be well sealed and put away so that children do not have access to it.

Caustic soda can be used several times as long as it is not contaminated with flour or cloudy. Place it in a well-sealed container that is explicitly labeled as acid/alkali resistant. The lid should be screwed on tightly to prevent accidental opening. The lye can be stored in the refrigerator for a good month in this way, and should be allowed to warm up a little when it is used again.

To dispose of the lye, add more water to the already diluted lye and pour this solution down the sink.

Lye beads - Application

To make a delicious pretzel roll or a typical pretzel, the dough must first be prepared. Once the rolls or pretzels are ready, the dough pieces are briefly left open again on a baking sheet after piece proofing. Lye cloth left lying around. This causes them to dry slightly and become crusty. After the formed dough pieces have risen for approx. 20 - 30 minutes, they must be cooled in the fridge. This makes it easier to dip the pastries in the lye. The lye does not penetrate the pastry, but remains on the surface.

Pour one liter of cold water into an acid and alkali-resistant container. Put on safety goggles and chemical-resistant gloves. Now you can add 40 g of lye pearls to the water. This will make the water warmer and it will reach the optimum temperature of 30 °C on its own. Never add the water to the lye beads, as this could lead to a violent chemical reaction. The pearls are added to the cold water, not the other way around.

Then dip the slightly dried dough pieces into the lye one after the other for a maximum of 4 seconds, preferably using a ladle. Allow the dipped dough pieces to drain briefly and place on reusable baking paper. The rolls would stick to conventional baking paper. Now you can still Pretzel salt Pour over the cookies and bake according to the recipe.  

The lye-treated rolls or pretzels are then baked immediately according to the recipe. The lye can be stored in a well-sealed container or diluted again and poured away. Rinse the utensils used well; the lye can be neutralized with acids (citric acid, carbonic acid, acetic acid). Only remove the safety goggles and gloves once the lye has been completely sealed or washed away.

Safety data sheet here download.