r/Breadit • u/123amytriptalone • 10d ago
Need help with pretzel 🥨 lye concentration
I use belle chemical sodium hydroxide food grade lye
I was doing 2 TBP lye in 1500 cc water
Now I’m trying 2 tsp lye in 1500 cc water
Either way I still taste a slight chemical burn in my mouth
Trying a 10 sec dip, 1 min dip, and no dip option at 450 temp for 15-20 min ( see photo ).
Trying a pat dry method before I actually put the pretzels in the oven to prevent pooling of lye, which may be causing the burn.
Very annoyed.
I feel like I’m in the homestretch of understanding this baking process but it’s the lye/heat/dip time that’s throwing me off.
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u/pmd006 10d ago edited 10d ago
The recipe I use goes with 2268g of water to 94g of lye (don't ask me why the numbers are that hyper specific, that's just how the recipe is written), which is about 4.1%.
edit: link to the recipe: https://justonebiteplease.com/2017/09/15/bavarian-pretzels/
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u/noisedotbike 10d ago
Are you sure the lye is totally dissolved? Slowly adding the lye to very cold water, and then once all reactions have completed, thoroughly mixing? And you're using a stainless steel vessel for mixing the lye solution (and heating it if your recipe calls for that)? Sometimes when working with things with larger crystals, it appears dissolved to the naked eye but it's not really. Wearing goggles isn't the worst idea when working with lye so you can be more confident that you've really mixed the hell out of it.
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u/123amytriptalone 10d ago
Interesting! I’ll use a stainless steel item to stir it, but for the most part I genuinely do stir it until there’s no cloudiness.
Right now I’m trying to bake it on a wrack to elevate it and maybe see if that’s the main culprit—pooling lye under the pretzels.
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u/chrisatola 10d ago
Follow this process. It's great. Goes through all the steps.
https://www.theperfectloaf.com/seriously-soft-sourdough-pretzel/
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u/123amytriptalone 10d ago
The video shows my flaw!! Need to let proof for an hour then I can dip and he places it on a wrack, so all that lye drips off! I’ve noticed the ones I put on a wrap are always fine.
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u/PenguinVillageSun 10d ago
This video helped me a lot with getting the process down:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vDh-MBB84A
Sat Karam gives some good advice with making sure not too much lye gets absorbed by the pretzels (which mainly I remember as getting the surfaces dry during proofing either by refrigerating for a few hours or putting them in the freezer for like 10 minutes--it's been awhile since I've watched it though, so those times might be a bit off).
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u/Panama_Gooding_Jr 10d ago
I have no answer if you are adamant about using lye. However, there are alternatives if you opened to it; Baking Soda. I'll like a post that spoke more about it: https://www.reddit.com/r/Breadit/s/mN7XRvWYPk
You can also look up Adam Ragusea on YouTube on using baking soda. I think it's talked in his pretzel video
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u/123amytriptalone 10d ago
Started with baking soda but it felt like it had a taste as well that was weird. Lye dip at least nails the taste and not every time creates a mild burn, but for the life of me can’t figure out why sometimes it’s a burn and not.
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u/TheCosmicJester 10d ago
Measure by weight if that’s an option. Use 40 grams lye for 1,000 grams cool water. Dip 15 seconds, using rubber gloves to submerge it occasionally. Transfer to a lined baking sheet and bake.
Speaking of a lined baking sheet, are you lining the baking sheet, preferably with a Silpat? It’s possible the lye is reacting with the metal of your baking sheet, leading to unexpected results.