Consider Drano drain cleaner. A 1M solution of NaOH is a lot more dilute than a dose of Drano, which does no harm to pipes or septic systems. Just use plenty of water (the solution to pollution is dilution.)

I found the same issue when I tried to roll the first one. I misted/spritzed each dough ball and the countertop with water. This made the dough/counter sticky enough, but not too sticky. To get the dough rope started try rolling first between your palms letting the forming rope hang down betwen them. After it is partially formed, lay the rope on the damp, not wet, countertop and continue. Once I got the hang of this, I was able to roll and form 5 pretzels in 8 minutes.

Using a magic marker, I put two dots on the countertop 24″ apart, which made getting the proper length a snap.

I used Gold Medal AP flour, Eden Barley Malt Syrup and a NaOH bath. I mixed the dough (~56% hydration a’la the Rx) with an Ankarsrum mixer at half speed for 8 min continuously using the scraper and roller. Piece of cake for the Ankarsrum.

I converted the rest of volumetric Rx to metric (grams) as follows: Fleischman’s Active dry yeast 14g (1 Tbsp); Salt 4g (3/4) tsp; barley malt syrup 21g (1 tbsp). Subtotal of mixed dough 1,014 (1,030 theoretical) owing to drying during mixing.

Each pretzel was formed into a 24″ rope with 100-101g dough. Dipped pretzels after 30 min rise in 1M NaOH solution (40g food grade NaOH/1,000g water) for 30 sec. Our small, old oven (circa 1987), though conventional is a fast oven; pretzel baked fully in 12 min with internal temp >200°F or greater (Thermoworks Thermoprobe Instant read).

A retired Ph.D. organic chemist, I had no difficulty handling the NaOH bath; used a plastic container and wore disposable gloves. Fully diluted the residual base solution into sink drain (No worse for drain than conventional Drain-O).

I really don’t understand the need for the slashes in the dough before baking. If the pretzel roll out length was say 16″ instead of 24″, then the pretzel would be short and fat; maybe then a slash would make sense.

The finished pretzels (10) weighed 937g or about 94g each with the sea salt. The actual calories/gram is 2.59. So a typical 94g pretzel would be 243 cals/each. Since this was a first time making them, it took about 1hr 45min. I baked two sheets of 5 pretzels each.

I will make a double batch for freezing, if and when I do it again. This would be no problem for the Ankarsrum mixer. Even a single batch would destroy a KitchenAid stand mixer, if one did not stop the mixer every two minutes to ovoid overheating,
and if one went over speed #2.

We eat them with mustard. I also ate one with Pancho Cheese dip. Darn good. Will make again. Will also try substituting in some rye flour.

Yay! So glad to hear that these pretzels worked so well for you!! Thanks so much for the comment 🙂

Hi! I’m a chemist. I would definitely not pour the solution directly down your kitchen sink–it’s 1M. You can use about 1.2 L of distilled white vinegar to neutralize it, and then you can just pour it down any drain. Hope this helps!

Hi there! So happy to hear that you enjoyed the flavor and texture of these pretzels! The way you’re describing shaping your pretzels is totally fine if that is working for you!
You also could be adding a little too much flour if you use measuring cups to measure your flour (learn more about that here). Also be sure you’re not flouring your countertops when shaping the dough, as that will also add excess flour and we want to avoid that! Also, not flouring the counters allows your dough to gain a little traction, making it easier to roll the logs against the counter, if that’s easier for you than rolling between your palms. If that doesn’t help, you can also try covering the dough with a kitchen towel for 10-15 minutes to allow the gluten to relax a little, before continuing with dividing and shaping the dough. I hope that helps! Happy baking 🙂