On Wed, 28 Sep 2011 00:38:01 -0700, isw > wrote:

>In article >,
> sf > wrote:
>
>> On Mon, 26 Sep 2011 15:25:07 -0500, Terry >
>> wrote:
>>
>> > This time the bath was 1 teaspoon of food-grade lye
>> > (sodium hydroxide) per quart of water, in a stainless steel pot.
>>
>> Were you able to find food grade lye without resorting to the
>> internet?
>
>It was some years ago, before the internet was even an option as a
>source. I just bought a can of lye (NOT Drano, which has aluminum) at
>the drugstore. The label indicated that there wasn't much in there
>besides sodium hydroxide, and I figured that whatever else was in there,
>there just couldn't be enough on a pretzel to worry about.
>
>I still have part of that can, and if I decide to try pretzels again,
>I'll use another tablespoon of it.
>
>Isaac

The reason I paid the outrageous shipping for food-grade (USP) lye is
that chemicals labeled USP do not contain significant amounts of other
nastystuff to be harmful. Lye in particular may have a
higher-than-desirable level of arsenic present---unless it's USP lye.

That being said, if it was something I'd need to buy over and over,
I'd probably do what you did. Though lye is getting pretty difficult
to find on the shelf.

Worth mention: there was a black stain on the bottom of the pot from
years ago, when I burned a batch of pudding in that pan. The lye took
out that stain, neat as you please.
--
Best -- Terry