The Dangerous Science of Perfect Pretzels | What’s Eating Dan?
Making pretzels the way German bakers do combines science and arts and crafts with a frisson of (manageable) risk. Dan shows you that the process is fun and the payoff is spectacular.
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"dan, we have to cook"
I WAS going to try this until I shopped food grade Lye. IMO, too expensive for an occasional baking project. I'll stick to using baking soda that's already in my pantry…
Thank you Dan for the lesson and Andrea for the time & effort on her research. I always enjoy watching what you share💞
Mr. A. Brown did a pretzel episode where his 'lawyers' came out and made him stop using lye because it's dangerous. And I'm thinking to myself, if you aren't careful, the home kitchen is rife with dangers. You are using sharp knives, hot skillets, hot oil for frying, hot ovens, boiling water… I use lye in a much stronger concentration to make my own soap and say respect it but don't fear it. Maybe at the time lye was less common, but really wish he would have made the pretzels both ways and cut out a bunch of his shtick. Of course, now you have me wanting to make a batch of pretzel!
I haven't checked the comments extensively but if you bake sodium bicarb it turns into sodium carbonate which has a pH of about 11.5. Not a bad substitute for NaOH – not readily available in small amounts.
Such clickbait
This was so great! I have honestly been scared to use lye but this makes it feel much more approachable. I like the point about how all cooking has some level of danger to it. Thinking of this as similar to just being careful of a hot oven or a recently sharpened knife – and not, say, something that will blow up your kitchen and really make your landlord mad – makes this feel much more doable. And of course now I can't wait to smell a freshly baked real pretzel.
it is RETARDED that you put out a video like this on youtube, but then hide the actual recipe behind a pay wall so that you force people to pay just get the recipe….. if you are going to hide the recipe, then DONT PUT OUT VIDEOS like this one……
I feel like it was silly not to include the clean up section in the video, wouldve been a lot easier and reached more people even the ignorant ones
My Dad used to make soft pretzels. He told me there was poison in them. As a six year old it confused me.
Till now! Lol! Thanks.
How do I make the pretzel more buttery, without changing the consistency of the finished pretzel, and without brushing on greasy butter after cooking? I want a very buttery, but dry surface pretzel. i.e. How can I add more butter in the batter without causing the batter to not rise or cook properly for a pretzel?
Oh, lye puns at the end. How about just being "normal"? 40 grams NaOH (lye) into 1 liter (1000 gr) water is a 1 normal (1 N.) solution to chemists. So Dan was just being a one normal cook, just a normal guy. Pretzels normally.
You should've gone over cleaning yourself.
I want a churro.
Here's what I want to know — how did the Germans figure this out?
America's test kitchen is SUCH A JOKE!!! I love dans videos but its so funny how hard they try to protect their recipe 😂 they don't specify quantities and make you pay to get on their site 😂😂. like I will gladly spend my time on a website that gives me the same exact recipe for free 😅😅 they are so bad at media it cracks me up. I hope Dan goes somewhere better
The question now is how the hell did the Germans even discover this way of making pretzels
So glad im living in Germany and get these at a bakery
Team BS all the way! Lol
IF you eat Weißwurst, buy sweet Bavarian mustard. ❤
I wish Dan would run for president. I would vote for him.
I bought some pretzel hot dog buns recently that were kind of disappointing. I might have to try my hand at making my own, but I'll probably go baking soda.
I appreciate soft pretzels but not so much the crunchy snack version.
What I don't get is the salt topping, particularly if you're going to dip the pretzles in mustard. I want to taste pretzel not salt.
Don't lye to me.
4:59 isn't an inverted 'u' just a regular 'n'? Lol
First – butter on pretzels is morally inappropriate!! I think it's a sign of the apocalypse.
Second – I like the lye idea but since I have nothing else to use it for it seems silly to go out and buy some when I already have something that will work well. But it was interesting to see. Thank you.
Important distinction is to use “food grade” lye so that you know there aren’t unsafe contaminants getting into/onto your pretzels.
I helped work in a pretzel shop at a time many moons ago. I don't remember all the trade secrets but the one trick to learn was how to shape the pretzels. You essentially lifted it up, smacked the center on the counter and got it to spin around and then laid the ends down.
ATK magazines are THE BEST cooking magazines ever. Unfortunately their customer service is the worst I have ever encountered, and managing your subscription is a nightmare.
I make sure with frozen store bought pretzels. 2 pretzels in one minute in the microwave. Even comes with a packet of pretzel salt.
Another excellent episode!!!! What's Eating Dan is my favorite ATK series.
5:35 omg the lye bottle 😂
Pretzels/Bagels: 1/2c | 10cups
Aluminum Etching : 1/2c | 2cups
Dissolving a body: 5lbs | 1lbs fat
I do the baking soda method -and I suggest adding diastatic dry malt powder to the dough as it also helps with browning.
Nope, no lye. Ever since I drank Lysol when I was two, I just can't manage the smell of lye. Love the pretzels, though.
Loved the presentation for the chemistry and the pun.
What if I dipped my biscuits……
i'm gonna take a wild guess that the Auntie Anne soft pretzels in the mall isn't dunked in lye, right?
Whilst Interrailing in 2008, I took a train from Munich to Stuttgart. At some point in the journey, I went to the buffet car, and asked if they had any pretzels (Brezeln). No, I was told. When I looked idsappointed, I was told "You're not in Bayern any more." I like the implication that DB changes out its baked goods based on state. It's equally possible they'd run out and he was messing with a tourist.
On a minor etiquette point; for the avoidance of hypertension, the salt is often scratched off.
Bavarian Brezeln use water, Swabian Brezeln use milk. Both can benefit from adding 3% (of the flour weight) sugar and 2% diastic malt. On the swabian brezel, score rhe thick part with a laim.
Lutefisk. How could you forget that lye food.
Holy crap hes right. Pretzels smell like pretzels. You can close your eyes and pick it out easily