"Sqwertz" > wrote in message
...
> On Fri, 3 Oct 2014 20:30:00 -0700, Paul M. Cook wrote:
>
>> "Julie Bove" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>
>>> I was just looking at recipes last night. The trend for at home now is
>>> to
>>> dip in just plain boiling water and that's what I did when I made them.
>>> Apparently lye is only for German pretzels.
>
> Home bakers of pretzels boil in water to which BAKING SODA has been
> added. Boiling in plain water would be pointless, unlike your head.
>
>> Where do you think pretels originated? Are you eating Japanese pretzels?
>
> We have the Pennsylvania Dutch to thank for them being as popular as
> they are today. Not New York as Barbie seems to think. But yes, Very
> German in origin.
>
> -sw

Eat these word, sw!

http://users.datarealm.com/marbeth/soft_pretzels.html

Particularly:

The ratio is 1:64 lye to water, and I have never had any ill effects. If you
prefer, however, boil the pretzels in plain water for 10-20 seconds; this
will give them an "outer coat" similar to a bagel. I give two more "bath"
solutions at the end of the recipe, if you care to try them. I have not.