[Sca-cooks] Pretzels & bagels

[Samrah]

This whole "malted water" thing has me fascinated.  I had many bagel making discussions with a Hebrew chef.  He didn't add anything to the water, nor have any of the recipes I have seen added stuff to the water.  He did insist of refrigerating them for an hour before baking....
 
Samrah (who used to make a good batch of bagels and still makes a good bread)

Chris Stanifer <jugglethis at yahoo.com> wrote:

--- Stephen Bloch wrote:

> MALTED water? Hmm... from what I've read about modern pretzels, 
> they're boiled in or sprayed with lye water; the lye is supposed to 
> denature the starch on the surface to make that hard shiny surface.

I believe that's just for modern 'hard' pretzels, but don't you dare quote me on that ;) The malted water (same used for bagel making, I believe) gives the pretzel a nice, golden crust and slightly sweet flavor, but the crust remains soft.

I'll do some checking on that, though. I know I have at least one recipe which does call for a treatment of lye.

William de Grandfort


			
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