United Nations of Beer

Twisted Traditional Pretzels

by UtahSteve
(Ogden, Utah)

Twisted Traditional Pretzels
(San Diego Pretzel co.)

Twisted Traditional Pretzels
Bavarian Style
$16 for eight 5oz pretzels

I knew these pretzels were on the way, but the speediness of the shipment surprised me. They might have started frozen but they were fully thawed at arrival.

These pretzels are large ballpark/pub style soft pretzels. In the bag you will find eight large pretzels and a small bag of pretzel salt. The directions state that the pretzel should be brushed or sprayed with water or melted butter, sprinkled with the salt and placed for 1 minute in a 450 degree oven or 1 minute on high in the microwave.

Since I don’t care for the result when bread is heated in the microwave I will only review the oven method here.

The first pretzel I brushed with melted butter, sprinkled with salt and placed in the 450 degree oven. I found that the butter/greasiness detracted from the nice doughy flavor of the pretzel. The butter also got all over my fingers.

One minute at 450 degrees was not quite enough time to heat the pretzel through.

I removed pretzel #2 from the freezer at the same time that I started pre-heating the oven. This was ample time to allow the pretzel to thaw. I brushed it with water, sprinkled with salt and placed in a 450 degree oven for almost three minutes.

The water method I found that the salt did not stick as well as the butter resulting in a lightly salted pretzel. The extra time in the oven did make a great difference though as there was a definite crust starting to form while the inside remained soft and chewy.

An additional few seconds might improve the crust and make the interior slightly warmer.

Overall these are very good pretzels that I would be happy to spend several dollars for at the ball park. My one concern is that there might not be enough salt for some people.