Soft pretzel dough calculator
Bavarian Laugenbrezeln: a stiff 52% dough with malt and butter, finished in a proper lye bath.
8 × 100 g · 52% hydration
Type how much flour you have — the portion weight recalculates.
Bavarian soft pretzels — Laugenbrezeln — on Breadtopia’s authentic formula: a stiff, cool dough with malt and a little fat, and the step that makes a pretzel a pretzel: a genuine lye bath. The mahogany shell and the bitter-sweet “pretzel taste” are chemistry, not decoration.
How it works
The dough
Cold water at 52%, salt 2%, butter or lard 3% and malt 3%, with an overnight refrigerated pre-dough carrying part of the yeast (about 1% instant equivalent in total). Knead firm and smooth — slack dough cannot hold the knot’s definition.
Shaping the knot
Roll ~100 g pieces into long, center-bellied ropes with thin arms, twist twice and press the arms onto the belly. Let the shaped pretzels dry uncovered, even briefly in the fridge — a slight skin makes the lye dip cleaner and the shine deeper.
The lye bath — respect it
A 4% food-grade lye solution (40 g NaOH per liter of cold water), dip no more than 5 seconds per side. Wear gloves and eye protection, add lye to water (never the reverse), and work on a stainless or plastic surface. Salt the wet pretzels and bake at ~230 °C for 12–14 minutes.
FAQ
Can I use baking soda instead of lye?
Yes — a strong baking-soda bath (ideally with baked soda) is the common home substitute. You get a paler crust and a milder flavor; the true Laugengebäck color and taste need lye at ~4%, the concentration cross-checked across serious sources.
Is handling lye at home actually safe?
With gloves, eye protection and cold water, food-grade lye at 4% is a routine bakery operation — treat it like a strong oven cleaner. Keep children away, label the container, and neutralize spills with vinegar.
Why is my pretzel pale and bready?
Dough too wet, dip too dilute, or dip skipped. The style needs the stiff 52% dough for chew and the alkaline dip for color — there is no oven temperature that substitutes for either.