Pretzel test

Ok, I've gotten caught up in an exploration of pretzel bath methods for my pretzel recipe, and now I've got to find out which is best.  Here are the methods I have identified: 

1. Cold lye bath method: 1 oz. food-grade lye, dissolved in 1 quart of water. 30 second dip, sprinkle with salt, then bake. Please follow the link, and follow their safety instructions. This is the most desirable, authentic method.
2. Cold sodium carbonate bath method: 100 g sodium carbonate dissolved in 2 cups of water. Immerse raw, shaped pretzels in the bath for three to four minutes, rinse off the excess dipping solution in a large bowl of plain water, sprinkle with salt, and bake.
3. Sodium carbonate boil method: Boil 6 cups of water. Add 2 to 6 tablespoons sodium carbonate . Boil pretzels for 1 minute, sprinkle with salt, then bake. 
4. Baking soda boil method: Boil 6 cups of water. Add 2 to 6 tablespoons baking soda. Boil pretzels for 1 minute, sprinkle with salt, then bake.
5. Water boil method: Boil pretzels in water for 1 minute, sprinkle with salt, then bake.
6. Egg wash method: Beat an egg with 1 Tbsp water. Brush over the top of the pretzels, sprinkle with salt, and bake. But this is really just a bread twist with egg wash, not a pretzel.

 I made a batch of sodium carbonate, and a batch of pretzel dough, and here we go! I'm skipping #1 because I don't have any lye. I might come back to it one day. I'm also skipping #6, because I know it will make a pretzel-shaped roll, having no true pretzel flavor. Here are my tests. I made one pretzel by each of these six methods:

2. Cold sodium carbonate bath
3. a. Sodium carbonate, 2 Tbsp in 6 c water, boiling
3. b. Sodium carbonate, 6 Tbsp in 6 c water, boiling
4. a. Baking soda (Sodium bicarbonate), 2 Tbsp in 6 c water, boiling
4. b. Baking soda (Sodium bicarbonate), 6 Tbsp in 6 c water, boiling
5. Plain boiling water

And here they are! I drafted my husband to help keep track of which pretzel was done by which method. He wrote what they are on the parchment in red Sharpie. Here's the layout:

5     2   4a
3a  4b  3b

5. Clearly the plain water pretzel did not get anywhere near the color that the others have. It also tasted more plain. However, my son thought it was the second best.
2. The cold carbonate dipped pretzel looks puffy, maybe because it was not restricted from its rise by being partially cooked by the boiling water. This tied for first in our family taste test.
3.b. The 6 Tbsp sodium carbonate pretzel looks the best (lower right), and tied the cold version for best taste.
4.b. The 6 Tbsp baking soda pretzel had a bit of a chemical taste to it in some bites, not very appealing.
3.a. & 4.a. Both of the 2 Tbsp boils did not add much pretzel taste.

I thought I was done at this point, and turned back to the remaining six ropes of dough laying on the table waiting to be made into pretzels also. I twisted two and gave them the cold sodium carbonate soak, and slipped two into the 6 Tbsp sodium carbonate bath.

The boiling pretzels looked terrible! They had been proofing for maybe 20 min before I twisted and boiled them, which looks like allowed the boiling water to burst some bubbles and soak into the pretzels. Yuck! I baked them anyway, but probably won't eat them.

I took the remaining two dough ropes, folded them up, and re-rolled them. On a whim, I tried for the Bavarian-style shape, where the twisted arms are very thin, and the big loop is fat. I boiled one and soaked one. I reduced the oven to 425° because the first tray browned too fast, leaving some boggy places in the pretzels. Here's the result:

Beautiful cold-bath pretzels on the left, gnarled boiled ones on the right.

I was able to bake them longer, and I let them get darker. The beauty in the photo above was clearly better than any from the whole first tray. Cold bath wins. The boiled pretzels, even the ones that didn't get mangled, all had a heaviness from the water. That wasn't the case for the cold soaked pretzel. Not only is that a pretty pretzel, it also has some of that true pretzel flavor, which must be approaching that of its lye-dipped cousins. It also crunched when we pulled it apart. :) I think this one isn't puffy like on the first tray because I inadvertently let the rope rise about 20 min before twisting it.

Then there's that curious fat Bavarian-ish pretzel using the cold-bath, in the lower left corner of the tray. I didn't get the shape quite right, it's too closed up, but it was tasty, and has lots of promise! The fat back edge was really nice, and the little arm nubs were crunchy. I'm definitely trying that shape again!

Pretzels: What goes in the bath?

I've been looking deeper into pretzels to develop my recipe, and learned a few things. I'm feeling a bit like a chemist now. Here's the deal: First, a Bavarian would say we're making pretzel-shaped brezels. Where I live, we say we're making soft pretzels, and can shape them various ways, including the traditional pretzel twist. Second, a Bavarian/German would say they must be dipped in a cold lye bath, then baked, to get that lovely deep pretzel color and taste.

A lye solution is a strong "base". In cooking, acids (lemon, for example) are common, but bases are not. Well, I'm not really ready to deal with lye in the kitchen just yet. The only other option I knew of was baking soda, which is a much weaker base, but is more kitchen-friendly. Then, I ran across this article, where they suggest baking your baking soda to get a stronger base.

They said that baking drives off water, making a stronger base, then you add it to a water bath. Hang on, then do you gain anything in the process? This is where it becomes chemistry. Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate, NaHCO₃. When you bake it, you get sodium carbonate, Na₂CO₃ 
 
2NaHCO₃→ Na₂CO₃+ H₂O + CO₂
 
Hmm, then you mix the Na₂CO₃ with water, and you get more OH- than mixing the original baking soda would provide. I can't nail down the reaction, but I guess it isn't that important.

I took 8 oz of baking soda, spread it on a baking sheet and baked it at 275° for an hour, and ended up with 5 1/8 oz of what must be sodium carbonate. I noticed a fine dusting tended to float into the air as I poured, so I tried to not breathe it or get it in my eyes. Interesting. Now to make some pretzels...

8 oz Sodium Bicarbonate (baking soda)

Baking the baking soda at 275° for an hour

5 1/8 oz Sodium Carbonate

Pancake Update

We made the "Good Old-Fashioned Pancakes" again (see first posting here), doubling the recipe and adding vanilla. A double recipe makes about 18 pancakes. Three per person is plenty; four worked for my pre-teen son, two for my youngest daughter. We're going to freeze the extras, and pop them in the toaster, or maybe microwave, on a school morning. I plan to make these when we want waffles, but we're out of buttermilk.

Update: The kids put frozen pancakes in the toaster on "defrost", and ate them for breakfast on school mornings. I didn't get any because they ate them all. I take that as an endorsement.

Something Unusual

I've been trying to think of a "bread" that would go well with chili. I usually use Fritos, which I think are great in chili, but it seemed some sort of bread should work. But what? Crackers? Bread sticks? It would be best if it was quick to make, so you don't have to plan ahead too much.

The other evening in the shower, an idea just emerged from nowhere, simply appearing in my head. Scoop out some sourdough starter from the fridge, mix in self-rising cornmeal mix and water, and cook it kinda like a pancake.

Tonight we had vegetable beef soup, but had no good bread, so I decided to try it.

Roughly, it was 1/2 cup starter, maybe 1 1/2 c self-rising buttermilk cornmeal mix, enough water to make it about like pancake batter, a pinch of salt, about 1/2 tsp baking soda, a tsp of sugar, and maybe 2 tbsp of powdered cheese. I didn't measure though, so that's all an estimate. We heated a skillet with about a tablespoon of bacon grease to 375°, and dumped it all in. It cooked like a pancake, browning and setting on the edges as bubbles slowly formed. Gave it a flip, cooked the other side, then slid it out and buttered both sides.

I thought it was a little underdone in the middle, so would try 350° next time. It tasted pretty good, a lot like cornbread sticks, and not very noticeably sourdough. The kids liked it a lot. I think next time I'll try shredded cheese instead of powdered, because the powder was lumpy, and I'm not big on keeping ingredients like that stocked in my home. My husband suggested jalapenos.

A Hoe Cake or Johnny Cake is a cornbread flat-bread kind of thing. A flapjack is a sourdough pancake. So what is this? A Jack Cake?  Or maybe a Flap John? I'll have to try it again, next time my sourdough starter needs to be "fed", and I don't want to make sourdough bread.

Engilsh Toffee Success

I tried the toffee again (refer to previous post), this time cooking it to 300°. Oh, what a great move! The butter flavor was so great, very "browned". The texture was also better. A nice crushy crunch. This time I used milk chocolate, which usually isn't my favorite, but I think it's the right thing here. I had the full amount of almonds this time. After toasting them all, I chopped  a few, maybe 1/4 cup. I put the whole slivers on the bottom, poured the toffee over them, spread the chocolate on top, and sprinkled with chopped almonds while still soft. I don't know if the chocolate bloomed this time, it wasn't around long enough to find out. :)

Apple Strudel today

I made an apple strudel again today, and couldn't resist changing it. I used softened rather than melted butter, and dark brown sugar for white sugar, in the filling. This is more like the cinnamon roll recipe. For the apples, I used all Honey Crisp. The apples alone weren't that outstanding, but the flavor was great in the strudel. However, I should have warmed them first.

I also should have wrapped up the sides and ends better, to hold in the filling...

When I checked on the strudel in the oven, the filling was oozing out badly, and was almost onto the stone. I pulled it out, put it on a baking sheet, and put it back in. This, on top of using cold apples, disrupted the baking time, and I ended up calling it done too soon. The filling didn't set up all the way, and there were undercooked places in the dough.

Sounds like a real disaster, but, my family still loved the gooey, cinnamon-apple-bread-mapley-icing result. Success! :) And room for improvement. ;)

My Chili Today

The recipe has evolved once again. I added the size of the cans, changed the order of the steps, and replaced the Chili-O.  

The current recipe, which may have changed.

Ingredients:

4 slices raw bacon, chopped
2 (15 oz) or 1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
½ cup chili sauce
chili blend:

2 ½ tsp ground cumin, very fresh*

2 Tbsp smoked paprika

¼ cup chili powder

1 Tbsp ancho powder

1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 - 2 1/2 lb ground beef
2 tsp salt
pepper
1 (12 oz) bottle beer (Corona is good)
1 (10.5 oz) can beef broth
8 soft corn tortillas, chopped or crumbled
1 (15 /4 oz) can sweet corn
3 (15.8 oz) cans beans; I like one each of red, black, and great northern**
1 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
balsamic vinegar
1 lemon
maple syrup
salt to taste

lettuce or steamed rice
shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream
chopped onions or scallions
Fritos

Directions:

1. Brown the bacon in a large pot. In a bowl, combine canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, and chili sauce. Save a can to put the beef fat in. Combine the “chili blend” spices in a small bowl.
2. Saute onions in the bacon and bacon fat. If you have time, caramelize the onions (cook slowly until they turn caramel-colored).  Add the garlic, cook a another minute or two, then empty the pot into the tomato bowl and set aside.
3. Get the pot hot again, and put in chunks of ground beef (don't crumble it yet), so that they sizzle and sear on the bottom, turning brown. If they stick some, that's good. Sprinkle the top with salt and pepper. A few minutes later, flip the beef to sear on the other side, salting and peppering again. Remove pan juices as necessary (use a baster to suck it up, and empty it into your tomato can) to keep the beef sizzling. Once the beef is browned on the sides, crumble it with your spatula and cook until pink is gone. Remove any unwanted fat now, before adding the spices.
4. Sprinkle the “chili blend” spices onto the hot beef. Stir and cook until the pot is dry and the meat is coated. Pour in the beer, deglazing the pot (the beer should sizzle, foam, and un-stick everything from the pan). Stir until reduced. Add the can of beef broth, stir, and return to a simmer. Mix in the bowl of tomatoes, bacon, and onion.
5. Bring the pot to a simmer, then stir in the crumbled corn tortillas. Simmer briskly about 20 minutes, until tortillas disappear, and the pot thickens. Use more or less tortillas to thicken to taste.
6. Stir in beans and corn, along with all the liquid in the cans. Return to a simmer. Add the juice of the lemon, and stir in the chocolate. Taste the chili. Add salt as desired. Add maple syrup to sweeten, and balsamic vinegar to "brighten", usually around two teaspoons of each. Adjusting the salt, balsamic (sour), and maple (sweet) is the key to a good balanced flavor, and takes multiple tasting and adjustment cycles.
7. Serve over torn lettuce or steamed rice. Top with shredded cheddar, sour cream, onions and Fritos.

*Add another ½ teaspoon if it is getting weak. Fresh cumin makes a huge difference. It's worth the trouble to toast seed in a dry skillet and grind it yourself, or to buy some at a specialty store (like Fresh Market) every few months. When fresh, it has a very strong, wild sort of a smell, which I've never gotten from a bottle at the grocery store.
**I’d like to try cooking beans from dry, and to try some other beans: anasazi, pink chili, Mexican red, cranberry.

First Waffles of Christmas!

Christmas gift: WaringPro Waffler

I got a new waffle iron for Christmas, and today was the day to try it out. We wore out the hinge on our last waffler. :) I'd been using Krustease pancake mix, which is very easy, especially for the kids. We were out of that, though, and it was time to find a better recipe.

I decided to try Food Network's Waffle of Insane Greatness, which was courtesy of Aretha Frankensteins, Show: $40 a Day Episode: Chattanooga, TN

The waffles were great! The outside had a crispy crunch, inside was creamy, overall they were light and wonderful. The first waffle was actually a tad lighter brown than the rest, but was still good. They were flavorful and delicious. We forgot to use butter, just added a light drizzling of real maple syrup, it didn't take much, didn't need anything more.

First waffle of Christmas! :)

The recipe is also pretty simple, not requiring anything fancy like separating eggs and beating the whites. Between this and the pancake recipe I found earlier, we will not be buying any more mix.

As is often the case, the recipe leaves a lot of room for interpretation, leading to a lot of variation in the results. Here is more specifically what I did.

I doubled the ingredients, and rounded up the vanilla, because it's really hard to use too much vanilla. I weighed the flour and corn starch, which I find makes it easier and more consistent. This makes six waffles on my new Waring Pro waffler. Here's just the recipe; any future updates will show up in that version, and may not be reflected here.

Ingredients   

• 1 1/2 cup (7 ½ oz) all-purpose flour (King Arthur)
• 1/2 cup (2 ½ oz) cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cup whole buttermilk
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Butter and syrup, for serving (we skipped butter and used real Maple syrup)   

Directions   

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt; whisk together well. In a four-cup measure, combine the milk, vegetable oil, egg and vanilla and whisk until well blended. The oil and eggs blend right in with the buttermilk. 

If you don't have buttermilk, go buy some, preferably the whole-milk variety. If you MUST substitute, mix 2 cups milk with 2 tablespoons white vinegar, and let set up for five minutes. I haven't tried the substitution, but I think you will miss out on the flavor. People who reported the batter as thin, and the waffles as lacking flavor, probably didn't use buttermilk, used a weaker flour, and didn't brown them up enough.

UPDATE: I made these again, ran out of buttermilk, and did the vinegar/milk substitution. The batter was thinner, and while still good, they were not as outstanding as they were with the buttermilk.

Add liquid to dry, and mix until well blended with small lumps. I started with a rubber spatula, and thought it was too lumpy, so switched to a dough whisk, which worked nicely. A small whisk, as in the photo below, would probably get clogged with the batter. Don't work it too hard, don't want to get the gluten developed.  My batter had small lumps.

Let the batter sit for 30 minutes. This is an important step, allowing the flour to wet more thoroughly, thickening the batter some too. Start your iron heating while the batter rests.

Wet ingredients bowl.

Batter with dough whisk, ready to rest.

       
Preheat a waffle iron to ~388°. Waffles are done when the iron comes back to 365-370°F. I found the temperature recommendation from this article, which I need to research in more detail in the future. :) An IR temperature gun is highly useful here. Without one, you will have to experiment to find the ideal setting. 

I found that setting my waffler to "5" worked just right. Ideally, the iron would maintain a temperature of 365-370°F, but most will cool off when the batter hits them, and then come back up to heat. When mine indicated the waffle was done, I rolled the iron over, gave it about 30 more seconds, opened the iron and found the temperature was close to 370°, so it worked well.

My iron came with a measuring cup, and instructed to fill it to the top for thick batter, and to the fill like for thin batter. I filled the first one to the top, and as you can see, it overflowed. After that, I went for the fill line, and poured in as much as would pour unassisted, and it worked well, making a nice even six waffles with no batter left over.

Do not use non-stick spray on the waffle iron; the oil in the batter will allow the waffle to release easily. Serve immediately with butter and syrup. Since my iron had never been used, I did spray it once after the iron was hot.

Overfilled iron, overflowed.

The last waffle quarter, almost eaten before I could take the photo.