Step 1 – Feed your sourdough starter
- Feed your sourdough starter and use when it’s at peak (when it can no longer rise and starter to crater a little)
- You can use your normal sourdough starter or
- You can use a sweet stiff sourdough starter to make sure the sandwich bread isn’t sour
Step 2 – Mixing your ingredients together
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To a stand mixer, mix all of the ingredients in the order you see me listing it above
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Mix until the sourdough dough is stretchy and smooth
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Takes around 10 minutes on level 4 (mixer might be dancing)
- Continue mixing until dough comes together and you have a windowpane
Step 3 –Â Bulk Fermentation/Room temp proof/1st Rise
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Take the dough out with your plastic bench scraper
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Shape the dough into a taut ball
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Put it in a bowl, cover
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Room temp proof for 4 hrs
Step 4 – Shaping
Preparing tools
Pretzel shaping
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Twist and roll the dough into a 20–22-inch rope
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Form a circle with the dough by bringing the 2 ends together at the top of the circle.
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Twist the ends together.
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Bring the twisted ends back down towards yourself and
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press them down to form a pretzel shape
- Cover the sheets with a plastic bag and put into the fridge
Step 5 – Cold proof/2nd Rise
- Cold proof in your fridge overnight (roughly 8-12hrs at 36F)
Step 6 – Water Bath
- Preheat the oven to 350F
- Take out the pretzels from the fridge before starting the water bath so they have time to thaw
- Bring baking soda and 9 cups of water to a boil in a large pot
- Drop 1–2 pretzels into the boiling water for 20–30 seconds
- Any longer than that and your pretzels will have a metallic taste
- Using a slotted spatula, lift the pretzel out of the water
- Get as much of the excess water to drip off
- Place pretzel back onto the baking sheet
- Sprinkle the top with coarse sea salt
- Repeat with remaining pretzels
Step 7 – Baking