The Soft Pretzel Cometh into Being

It has been said that while cooking is an art, baking is most definitely a science. Here Richard Seiberlich proves this maxim true with his invention of the soft pretzel. Previous pretzels remained soft for a maximum of 6 hours. Through Seiberlich's experimentation, he developed the soft pretzel, which we know and love today, staying soft for no less than 12 hours. We at the Donkey salute this culinary pioneer.

Source: South Philly Review

Soft pretzel

United States Patent 3976791

Inventor: Seiberlich, Richard R. (Schaumburg, IL)
Filed: 1975

It may thus be seen that I have invented a new and novel process for producing a new and novel pretzel. The new and novel soft pretzel produced by this new and novel process will stay soft longer than any other pretzel heretofore known. The pretzel is capable of ready commercial success because it can be cooked in the morning at one production and kept warm and soft for the remaining part of the commercial day without need for constant attention or cooking.

After the mixture has been thoroughly blended for the requisite procedural conditions, the mixture is then formed into the shape of a pretzel or the like including other food shapes such as alphabetical letters. The shaping or forming can be in any known manner and would include conventional rolling and forming techniques but it is especially desirable to include that forming operation in which a continuous extrusion of the pretzel mixture is accomplished with a cross-sectional design of a pretzel or the like and then a knife or slicing blade or other such thing slices the extruded mixture, as it is extruded, to form a pretzel or the like. While the forming is intended to be in the shape of a pretzel, since a soft pretzel is the object of this invention, it is obvious that other designs, other than a classical pretzel design, may be created by the forming and it is intended to cover those other designs in which a pretzel-like taste and soft pretzel texture are desired even though the shape may not be of the conventional or classical pretzel shape.

EXAMPLE
241/2 Quarts of lukewarm water were admixed for 3 minutes with 3 pounds of cake yeast (saccharomyces cerevisiae) and 1 tablespoon of a mixture of vegetable mono- and diglycerides. This mixture was then mixed with 100 pounds of bromated, bleached, unenriched flour for 13 minutes. The mixture was then extruded in a pretzel shape and sliced to form pretzels. The pretzels were sprayed with a solution of sodium hydroxide and water, formed by mixing 8 ounces of 50 percent sodium hydroxide in a gallon of cold water. After the surface was coated, sodium chloride crystals were topically applied and the pretzels were frozen to -30°F. After freezing for 2 days, the pretzels were baked at 700°F. for about 31/2 minutes and produced a pretzel which remained soft greater than 12 hours.

The above example constitutes the preferred embodiment of this invention.