Pretzel - Black Flannel Brewing & Distilling Company (2024)

FAQs

What is the flavor of pretzel? ›

Tasting Notes:

The typical pretzel has a pleasant cracker-like flavor, a crisp, brittle texture and a brown glossy surface color. Salt crystals are often sprinkled on its surface to make them taste more appealing. Pretzels have a moisture content of anywhere from 2-4% and therefore have a very long shelf life.

The Palantine Germans, later known as the Pennsylvania Dutch, brought pretzels to America in 1710. They were originally called “bretzel”. The first commercial pretzel bakery was established in the town of Lititz, Pennsylvaia by Julius Sturgis in 1861. The hard pretzel had its beginnings in Pennsylvania.

The answer lies in a brief dip in an alkaline water bath before baking. This bath essentially gelatinizes the outside of the pretzel, preventing it from fully “springing” during baking (as bread does) and giving pretzels their signature chewy crust. It also gives them their unique and indelible “pretzel” flavor.

Unless they've been made with a whole grain flour such as rye, most pretzels are not very nutrient-dense, meaning they don't contain many beneficial nutrients relative to their calorie content. That's because most pretzels are made from refined wheat flour, also called white flour.

Over time, the pretzel became a staple and an integral part of Pennsylvania's culture and economy. The state is now known as the pretzel capital of the world, with Pennsylvanians consuming a whopping 12 times more pretzels than the national average.

Some say they were originally called “bracellae,” the Latin term for “l*ttle arms,” from which Germans later derived the word “bretzel.” According to others, the earliest pretzels were dubbed “pretiolas,” meaning “l*ttle rewards,” and handed out by the monks when their young pupils recited their prayers correctly.

How does all this make Philly the pretzel capital? The first commercial pretzel factory in America opened in 1861 in Lititz, Pa. Since then, the Southeastern Pennsylvania region, including parts of South Jersey, has grown to be the dominant pretzel producer in the country.

A pretzel is a crispy snack or a soft, baked good. Both kinds of pretzel usually have a distinctive, knot-like, twisted shape. Pretzels are salty snack foods, so you'll find them alongside potato chips and popcorn in the grocery store.

The savory pretzels are made with traditional pretzel dough sprinkled with coarse salt and sesame seeds before baking. The sweet variety has poppy seeds and orange zest mixed into the dough.

After removing other scent molecules individually, the researchers found two molecules that are essential to the unique pretzel scent: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which has a roasted smell, and 4-hydroxy-2,5-dimethyl-3(2H)-furanone, which has a caramel smell.

Does pretzel taste like bread? ›

Pretzels are boiled, not baked. The dough is first shaped into a long rope and then boiled in water before being baked at a higher temperature than bread. This process creates a distinctive pretzel shape and gives them their unique taste.