Steve Wertz > wrote:
> On 7 Oct 2003 18:57:52 GMT, wrote:
>>Philadelphia style soft pretzels are definitely not simmered. They're
>>baked.
> They're simmered, then baked. That's what makes them soft and chewey.
Really? I used to know someone who owned a soft pretzel bakery in Media,
Pennsylvania. He made Amish style soft pretzels. About three or four times
a year, I would go to the bakery to help my friend and he never simmered
his pretzels. They were completely baked.
There's also a Philly style soft pretzel bakery about two miles from where
I live. This pretzel bakery has been in business for at least thirty
years. The people at this bakery sell pretzels in any amount from one
pretzel on up. Every once in a while, I will treat myself to a hot soft
pretzel. The entire baking area is within view of the sales area. I have
never seen the people there simmer their pretzels. They make a show of
their pretzel-making. They swirl the raw dough into pretzel shapes, then
put the uncooked pretzels in an oven. The pretzels move through a long
oven on a conveyor belt. Perhaps some bakeries make their soft pretzels by
simmering them, but I haven't seen that here in the Philly area.