Lye?

[pennbrew]

Where can one find food-grade lye for making pretzels?

Thanks!

---Guy

[azlee]

you can use baking soda instead of lye.

[pennbrew]

Well you can but it doesn't produce the same result.

[pennbrew]

It took close to a half-hour of googling but I found it:

Lye on Amazon

[avaserfi]

Harold McGee talks about used baked soda to get very similar results. The baking process increases the alkalinity significantly.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/15/dining/15curious.html

[dcarch]

Chinese stores have both in a bottle and as a powder.

dcarch

Edited September 24, 2011 by dcarch (log)

[jmolinari]

I was just about to suggest Kansui water/alkali water for noodles, or baked soda. The goal of the lye is the alkalinity...

[ScoopKW]

Chinese stores have both in a bottle and as a powder.

dcarch

Seen this in my local Asian megamarts. And I'm wondering if this is good enough for pretzels -- what sort of dilution? The bottle warns that anyone dumb enough to drink the product will die. So I'm sure it's very high on the PH scale.

Anyone used this to success making pretzels?

[annabelle]

Are you making hard pretzels or soft pretzels? I've only ever made soft pretzels and those are par-boiled in a baking soda bath before bakng. I never heard of using lye. Is there a food-grade lye?

[avaserfi]

Are you making hard pretzels or soft pretzels? I've only ever made soft pretzels and those are par-boiled in a baking soda bath before bakng. I never heard of using lye. Is there a food-grade lye?

Lye is the ingredient that is traditionally used for soft pretzel making. I'm not sure about hard, but think it is the same. According to the article I linked earlier, baking soda gets a similar effect to lye, but is not basic enough to get the right flavor profile and texture. In contrast, baked soda is.

[pennbrew]

Are you making hard pretzels or soft pretzels? I've only ever made soft pretzels and those are par-boiled in a baking soda bath before bakng. I never heard of using lye. Is there a food-grade lye?

I want to make the traditional "Laugenbrez'n" (literally "lye pretzels") found in Bavarian beerhalls. They are somewhere between what Americans think of as soft and hard pretzels, although certainly closer to soft.

I've ordered it from Amazon (see link above), but it hasn't arrived yet.

I've also heard that there is a specific type of flour used in Germany. The Hofbrauhaus in Pittsburgh (and presumably the ones in Las Vegas and Cincinnati) imports the flour. Anyone know the details of such flour?

Thanks!

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Is there not a chemical supply house where you live? They will either have food-grade lye or be able to source it for you.

[Will]

I have heard folks say that there's really no difference between so-called "food grade" lye and Red Devil. That said, I'd probably personally be hesitant to cook with something from the hardware store.

The alkaline solutions sold at the Chinese market may or may not be lye. Jianshui / kanshui should be potassium and/or sodium carbonate; penghui (mugwort potash, which contains potassium carbonate) is also used sometimes for noodle making. I believe lye should be sodium / potatssium hydroxide.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Lye properly should be sodium hydroxide, nothing else. And I'd be quite reluctant to cook with Red Devil or other hardware-store or soapmaker's lye.

[Will]

Lye properly should be sodium hydroxide, nothing else. And I'd be quite reluctant to cook with Red Devil or other hardware-store or soapmaker's lye.

Wikipedia claims it was historically potassium hydroxide

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lye

I get the impression that your statement is correct w/r/t lye available today.

[TheNoodleIncident]

So how did the pretzels come out? Pics? And would you mind sharing the recipe?

I'll occasionally make pretzels using pre-made pizza dough (and a dip in baking soda solution), and they are pretty good, but I'm sure a real recipe and a real lye dip would make them much better.

[pennbrew]

Haven't made them yet, the lye just arrived via UPS today. I probably won't have time to try it out until next week. I'll be sure to take some photos.

[GaryK]

http://www.essentialdepot.com/servlet/the-Sodium-dsh-Hydroxide-dsh-Lye-dsh-Food-dsh-Grade/Categories