Baked baking soda for pretzels
Also searched as: baked baking soda, lye substitute, pretzels without lye, sodium carbonate, washing soda
In short: Baking soda baked in the oven becomes washing soda, a stronger base. With it, pretzels turn almost as brown as with real lye, without its danger.
Like coffee getting stronger as it roasts: the same bean, but one step stronger.
- about 200 g baking soda
- baking tray lined with baking paper (no aluminium)
- screw-top jar
- gloves for the dipping bath
Washing soda irritates skin and eyes: wear gloves, keep it away from your face and out of children's reach.
Step by step: what happens
- 1Spread the baking soda on the tray and bake for 2 hours at 120 °C
Heat drives off water and carbon dioxide. becomes washing soda (sodium carbonate), and the base gets stronger: 11 instead of 8.
Alkalis speed up browning - 2Let it cool, put it into a jar while dry and label it
Washing soda looks like baking soda but is more irritating. That is why you label it.
- 3For dipping, dissolve about 150 g in just under 500 ml of warm water
The bath has to be strong so that the surface takes up enough base (amount from America’s Test Kitchen).
- 4Dip the pretzels briefly, rinse, salt and bake hot
The alkaline surface browns quickly and shines.
Maillard reaction
Result
Around 130 g of washing soda from 200 g of baking soda, because weight is lost as water and carbon dioxide during baking (as a guide).
Keeps for
Almost indefinitely, dry and sealed.
What to use it for
- Pretzels, lye rolls, lye-dipped braided bread.
- A pinch in the cooking water for Chinese noodles with bite.
Sources · 2
- America’s Test Kitchen: Professional-quality soft pretzels at home
- Harold McGee: On Food and Cooking (2004)