The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1889-11-08
PRETzELs MADE BY HAND.
The Only Sort the Epicurean Teuton VIII
DciSn 10 Consume.

The Only Sort the Epcurean Teutun WIN
Dcisn To Consume.
"Thcre is no use in trying to make prctzcls
by machine" said a Washington baker man
to Il reporter I've attempted it, and it's a
dead failure. Tho Germans won't bLv any
but the hand made, which. for some reason
nobody has been ever able TO make cut, are
swceter and of Il better favor, even when the
dough used is precisely the same in both
Then, again, the ones turned out by hand
have Il delicate sort of skin which the ma
chine made lack. A curious thing it is, too,
since there is no difference in material, tho
kneading is the same, and the only variation
IN process is between stamping with steel
dyes and twisting into shape with the hundsn
ibid you ever see pretze made? Then
just look here,' continued the baker man,
grabbing as he spoke a small hunk of ordi-
nary bread dough from heap on the table
close by He rolled the hunk rapidly over
tho board with both hands until it was
long, thin, cylindrical strip. Then taking
each end of the strip between n thumb and
foretlngcr he curled it with two or three
quick motions into the shape of II perfect
pretzcl Tho whole process required perhaps
four seconds, but he was not trying to do it
rapidly.
''But Il pretzel isn't made of ordinary
dough-" suggested the newspaper man.
''lts material is simply flour and water,
with six pounds Of lard added for each bar
rel Of flour. The pretzel dough is made up
just like bread dough, and the factory hand
turns tho pretzels out one by one in precisely
the way | showed you, As fast us they are
given shape, like this one have just made,
they are thrown into kettles Of boiling lye,
kept ut the temperature necessary by steam
jackets. A moment later they arc fishcd out
with skmtners and thrown upon a bed of
salt. Finally, with what salt a,lheres to
them they are picked up gingerly mud laid in
ovens, with tho unsalted silcs down. When
they arc done they are ready for cons,lmp-
ton, usually with beer No method has thus
far been discovered Of salting pretxcls other
wise than by hand, so delcatey must they
be handled at this stag Of tho performance"
"Dut how arc they cut by machinery"
HLike ordinary crackers, The dough is
rolled out in thin sheets and laid upon an end
less belt, which carries them along beneath II
steel die that cuts out half dozen or more
prctzel shaped pieces at each hammer like
stroke. Tho pretzcls produced i'll this way
look exactly like the hand made and, being
Of tho sn,ne material, ought to be quite as
good, but they are not. The rest of the pro-
cess has to be performed by hand anyway,
l fancy that tho Germans are prejudced also
against machine made pretzcls because they
regard them as against honest manual labor
Anyway they sell for cents pound less in
the market than the hand made ones bring.
Pennsylvania is the great pretzel making state.
1t is an enormous industry in Scranton,
Philadelphia, especially in Pottstown, and all
through the coal mining regions, which are
thickly settled with Germans. The people
employed in manufacturing them are all Of
that race, and, in fnct, wherever you find
pretzels in the world tho German is found
also. 10 the Teuton they are, in conjunction
with beer, what ambrosia was to the gods,
with nectar on the side. e.n-Washingto Star.