Why it works: Flour and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Pretzels
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a very hot oven”. The 600°F (315°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the dough
Make a sponge with half the flour as directed for Parker House rolls.
When the sponge begins to fall, add 1 ounce of salt for every quart of liquid used.
Add a little lard and butter, then mix in the remaining flour and knead vigorously.
Divide the dough into suitable pieces, round them up, and roll into finger shapes.
Shape and rise
Shape the dough into pretzels and place them on boards to rise until three-fourths risen.
Boil and bake
Prepare a brine by boiling 6 quarts of water with 20 ounces of salt and 2 ounces of potash, skimming off any foam.
Drop the pretzels into the boiling brine a few at a time; remove them with a skimming ladle once they float.
Sprinkle lightly with fine salt just before baking.
Place the pretzels on a baking sheet and bake in a very hot oven at 600°F (315°C).
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the gluten network that gives the dough its chewy structure after kneading.
- Potash
- Alkaline solution in the brine that promotes browning and the characteristic pretzel crust.
- Lard
- Adds fat that tenderizes the dough and softens its crumb.
- Butter
- Adds fat that enriches flavor and tenderness in the dough.
The step that matters
Boiling the pretzels in the brine. Dipping the shaped dough in the hot alkaline brine sets the outside quickly, so it browns deeply in the oven and gains its glossy, chewy skin. Removing them once they float keeps them from becoming waterlogged.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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