Soft, pillowy pretzels buns are the stuff of legend. The secret? A bath in lye and baked in a wood-fired oven! Chef Britt shows you how to make the best pretzel buns for your next cookout!
WHAT YOU'LL LOVE
- Mixing a biga preferment the night before builds fermentation flavor into the dough over 12-16 hours, rather than relying on a single same-day rise
- Adding the ingredients to the stand mixer in a specific order, water first, lets everything hydrate evenly before the biga chunks are folded in
- Chilling the shaped dough balls for at least 30 minutes firms them up, making them easier to handle safely during the lye dip
- Baking on a wood-fired deck at 450-500°F gives the pretzel buns their signature deep, dark crust color in just 7-9 minutes
Wood-Fired Pretzel Buns
Britt Shoffner
Rated 5.0 stars by 1 users
Category
Appetizer
Cuisine
American
Servings
12
Prep Time
1 hour
Cook Time
15 minutes
Calories
245
Soft and pillowy pretzel buns are soon to be the talk of your next cookout. Master their classic lye-bath and wood-fired oven secrets with Chef Britt and serve up the absolute best pretzel buns for your friends and family.
Ingredients
-
144 g Antimo Caputo "00" Pizza Flour
- 94 g water
-
3 g Jacobsen Pure Kosher Sea Salt
-
1 pinch instant yeast
-
578 g Antimo Caputo "00" Pizza Flour
- 340 g water
-
12 g Jacobsen Pure Kosher Sea Salt
-
2 1/2 tsp instant yeast
- 36 g unsalted butter, softened
- 7 g brown sugar
- 240 g biga preferment
- 1250 g water
- 50 g Food-Grade Lye (Sodium Hydroxide)
-
Jacobsen Pure Kosher Sea Salt or Noble Saltworks Hickory Smoked Salt, as needed
For the preferment (biga):
For the pretzel dough:
For Finishing:
Directions
To make the preferment:
- Mix your biga preferment directly in the container you wish to allow it to rise in overnight. In this case, a quart-sized container works very well.
- Combine flour, salt, yeast, and water the flour is fully hydrated (no dry patches).
- Allow the biga preferment to sit, covered, for 12-16 hours before mixing the final pretzel dough.
To mix the final pretzel dough:
Set up your electric stand mixer for bread mixing: dough hook for a Kitchenaid and dough roller & scraper attachments for an Ankarsrum.
- In this order: place water, flour, sugar, salt, yeast, and butter into the mixer and allow to mix on low speed for 3 minutes, until the ingredients have incorporated.
- Follow with the biga preferment, breaking it up into smaller chunks before adding it to the mixture. Mix on low speed for another 5 minutes.
- Allow the dough rise for 1 hour, covered. During this time, begin to build your fire in your wood-fired oven.
- Remove it from the bowl and fold it to degas. Return it to the bowl, cover, and let it rise one more hour.
To scale/shape/finish the dough:
- Using a scale, weigh out the dough into 100-gram portions. Round out the portions into balls.
- Place the dough balls evenly onto a lined 18" x 13" sheet pan.
- Place the dough into the fridge to set up for at least 30 minutes before handling further.
- Use this time to prepare your prep area for the lye bath. Lye is highly caustic, and necessary precautions must be taken to prevent the material to eat through metal and porous surfaces. In the video, Chef Britt uses a FrogMat over a plastic-lined sheet pan to transfer her lye-dipped pretzels to the Clementi wood-fired oven.
To finish/bake the pretzels:
- Create your lye solution by dissolving your sodium hydroxide (food-grade lye) into water that is placed in a glass bowl or other non-reactive container.
- Using a nitrile-gloved hand, dip each bun into the lye solution, then transfer to a non-reactive surface (reference video).
- Sprinkle the amount of salt preferred over the tops of the dipped buns.
- Create the scores on the tops of the bun by cutting an X-shape (about 3/4-inch deep) using a pair of scissors.
- Immediately bake on the wood-fired oven, with the deck's temperature reading 450-500°F. Allow to bake for 7-9 minutes, or until browned, turning as needed.
Recipe Note
Recipe FAQ
Why mix a biga preferment the night before instead of making the dough all in one day?
Letting the biga sit covered for 12-16 hours builds fermentation flavor into that portion of the dough, adding complexity that a same-day dough alone wouldn't develop.
Why add the ingredients to the stand mixer in a specific order, with water first?
Starting with water, then flour, sugar, salt, yeast, and butter lets the dry ingredients hydrate evenly as they mix, before the biga preferment is broken up and folded in separately.
Why chill the shaped dough balls for at least 30 minutes before the lye dip?
Firming the dough in the fridge makes each bun easier to handle safely during the dipping and scoring steps that follow, rather than working with soft, warm dough.
Why does a food-grade lye bath specifically give pretzels their signature crust and flavor?
The alkaline solution reacts with the dough's surface during baking, producing the deep brown color and distinctive flavor that baking soda alone can't fully replicate — this is the same chemistry traditional German pretzels rely on.
How indoor-friendly is this recipe?
3 out of 5 — a home oven at its highest setting can bake these pretzel buns well, though you'll lose some of the char a wood-fired oven's higher heat produces; the dough, biga, and lye bath all come together the same way regardless.
Recipe Highlights
Overnight biga preferment: Builds fermentation flavor before the final mix.
Ordered ingredient mixing: Ensures even hydration before the biga is added.
Chilled dough balls: Makes handling safer and easier during the lye dip.
High-heat wood-fired bake: Produces a deep, dark crust in under 10 minutes.
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Nutrition
Nutrition
- Nutrition Serving Size
- 4.04 oz
- per serving
- Calories
- 245
- Carbs
- 47 grams
- Protein
- 7 grams
- Fat
- 3 grams
- Sodium
- 496 milligrams
