I had Trouble Making Pretzels yesterday!
By jennybianca
@jennybianca (12912)
Australia
March 21, 2010 7:38pm CST
Yesterday my daughter was very keen for me to make homemade pretzels. She found a recipe on the internet from cooks.com for me. It was American, and so I had to figure out the terminology used which is sometimes different to ours.
For a start, is said 4 cups flour, but it didnt say which flour. Would they mean plain flour or SR flour? I ended up using SR flour.
It also said cake yeast. I have never heard of cake yeast, I only know of ordinary yeast used in baking bread. It didn't give any quantities of yeast either. I ended up using 3 teaspoons of yeast.
Well, the end result looked great. They rose beautifully and were a golden brown on top. But they were a bit heavy and doughy.
I would like to try again, but am unsure about the flour situation and the yeast?
Any ideas from My Lotters?
1 person likes this
7 responses
@zandi458 (28102)
• Malaysia
22 Mar 10
SR flour are only good for cakes. Why don't you try using high protein flour or bread flour. Usually when I make buns or bread I use high protein flour and it comes out very well. I think your yeast is too much. I don't know 4 cups is equivalent to how many grams. Too much yeast will make the end products having strong yeast smell. Try to reduce the yeast to 1 - 2 tsp yeast.
2 people like this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
22 Mar 10
Using high protein flour is a very good idea as my daughter is a vegetarian. What is the high protein flour you use made of? Is it soya?
I am inclined to agree with you regarding the yeast. When I have made bread, I dont use that much yeast.
2 people like this
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
22 Mar 10
hi jennybianca if it just says flour they mean plain flour, yes cake yeast is common here in the states.that is odd that it did not give
the quantity of yeast as thats what would make it rise. You probably
needed more yeast in it but I do not know. Let me find the recipe on cooks.com , I used to use that web site when I did my own cooking. maybe I can figure it out being a yank from the US. he he.
2 people like this
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
22 Mar 10
the recipe I found in cooks.com was called holiday pretzels and it uses 4 and a half cups of flour and one package of yeast so don't know if it was the one you used or a different one. I dont know about any other yeast but that is packages.
2 people like this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
22 Mar 10
Hmm, well next time I will try plain flour and more yeast. I dont have any trouble figuring out different toppings, but my daughter would have liked them lighter and less chewy.
Thanks for your help.1 person likes this
@gtargirl (5376)
• United States
23 Mar 10
Okay, so don't quote me, but unless it says self raising flour or all purpose flour I would use the "normal" flour. 
Maybe the SR flour caused it to be heavy and doughy. It does sound like the recipe was incomplete though. From what I remember the Aussie flour is slightly different then US flour. I'm just sayin'. Wasn't much help, huh? 
Maybe the SR flour caused it to be heavy and doughy. It does sound like the recipe was incomplete though. From what I remember the Aussie flour is slightly different then US flour. I'm just sayin'. Wasn't much help, huh? 2 people like this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
26 Mar 10
Other people have said the same as you, that it means plain flour. I think I should try and find an aussie recipe.
1 person likes this
@cerebellum (3863)
• United States
22 Mar 10
I have never heard of SR flour, and I don't know how much yeast is in a cake of yeast. I don't cook all that much, but I am from the US. I am not that familiar with a lot of cooking terms from any country, but if it didn't say what kind of flour, I would think it would be all purpose flour.
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
26 Mar 10
SR flour is self raising flour.
If you dont cook that much, what do you eat?
1 person likes this
@fallingfan (445)
• United States
23 Mar 10
I would think just regular plain flour. I am wondering if cake yeast means a cake of yeast which, I believe, is 1 Tablespoon. Good luck!
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
26 Mar 10
I think you are right about the plain flour. Not sure about the yeast.
1 person likes this
