Ive been running my pretzel business for just under 2 years now and have NEVER changed my recipe or how i do things. They went from needing 13 minutes to bake to color and now all of a sudden it can take about 20 then they just get rock hard and not edible.
First pic i did about 16 minutes so they had some color while staying soft but 13 usually gives off that nice darker look.
Could it be the dough was still cold even after the baking soda boil? I've never had issues making the dough the day before then freezing until the morning then thawing in the fridge while at work
by PeeB4uGoToBed
27 Comments
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https://imgur.com/a/Ibx0EwE
Apparently it only uploaded 1 picture, here are the pale ones
Is there any chance something is wrong with your oven?
I’m not going to lie. I can’t really give you advice other than to say….. even those pale ones look good, and I’d eat them in a heartbeat
Do you have an oven thermometre? Could be an issue with a defective oven not reaching the right temperature, if nothing else has changed in your ingredients/method.
The deep brown on pretzels comes from the lye. Has your lyewater changed concentration?
How old is the baking soda? It loses it potency and pretzel making will show it very early. Check the package even if you just bought it.
As others have suggested, definitely check oven temp and make sure none of your ingredients have gone bad.
On another note, those look incredible- any chance you’re willing to share the recipe? I’m very interested in how you achieved that look without lye, it’s incredible!
Have you changed any of the brands of ingredients?
Best thing I can think of is that most likely your baking soda was possibly not sealed perfectly so start to age a bit sooner. Especially if you’re unsealed one seems to be reacting a little bit more with vinegar. The concentrations in baking soda is so low that it probably doesn’t take as much loss and potency as you think for it to get noticeably weaker.
Honestly the pale pretzels are perfect for me, I’ll take a dozen
Has the tap water changed? If it has become more acidic for some reason, it could be canceling out the baking soda.
How long was your dough in the freezer?
I’ve found that if I pre-make too much and they sit in the freezer for more than a week or two, they don’t bake up as dark.
I run into an issue with any yeasted baked goods that I freeze raw. Too long in the freezer and they tend not to rise properly (croissants, cinnamon buns, etc).
If your pretzels weren’t in the freezer for very long, I would agree with other replies that blame the baking soda.
Has the weather been particularly different than normal? My banana breads suffer when there’s no humidity
I’d eat them if you don’t want them
How old is your baking soda?
How’s your egg wash? Did you remember to brush them before putting in the oven so they brown? If you did brush them, maybe something is wrong with the quality of the yolk?
My guess is baking soda
Have you tried another bag of flour? Maybe the malt concentration is off on the bag you’re using?
I just saw a tiktok yesterday of a guy who owns a bakery having a large batch of dough turn out bad, like gluten development very poor on a product they bake daily. Turns out the flour from their regular distributor was off in some way. I can’t remember the details. So now I’m wondering if the problem started for you with a new bag of flour. Even if it’s the same brand you always use.
Edit: found the account @wildbreads on tiktok
They’re just light skinded.
Test the strength of your lye bath, it may be weak
Agreed, bad batch of soda, or expired. You should also consider switching to food grade lye and having them retard in the fridge for some time after shaping. Then proof, Then lye bath, then bake. Makes for great color.
I love reading everyone’s comments, as it helps me learn for my own baking
I replaced an element less than two years ago and it died. So verify element is working.
I would say the pH isn’t sufficient for the Maillard reaction.
Have you tried another batch after this one? It could certainly be that they were too cold after dipping, assuming no other batch in the past has been this cold. At a previous job, we kept raw pretzels in the freezer and dipped them straight into scalding water. By the end of dipping, the water would be cooler, so as I went along, I would leave them in the lye bath a bit longer to balance out the batch.
Otherwise, if you use sugar in your recipe, it may have been mis-measured. Sugar helps with browning.