Step 1

Prepare the pre-ferment:

Step 2

Dissolve the yeast in the water and add it to the flour. Knead the dough briefly until smooth and cover it with plastic wrap. Leave to ferment at room temperature for 2 hours before transferring the dough into the fridge overnight.

Step 3

Prepare the pretzel dough and shape the pretzels:

Step 4

The next morning, in a large mixing bowl, combine the rest of the flour, the pre-ferment, salt, and barley malt. Dissolve the yeast for the pretzel dough in the milk and add the milk and water to the flour. Knead the dough until smooth. Then incorporate the lard into the dough. This will be messy at first but the lard will integrate nicely and lubricate the dough.

Step 5

Cover the kneaded dough with plastic wrap and leave it to sit on the counter at room temperature for 20 minutes.

Step 6

Divide the dough into 12 even pieces, each weighing about 65 g (2.3 ounces). Rotate the individual dough pieces under the palm of your hand to form each one into a round ball. Make sure to cover them with plastic wrap so they won't dry out. Leave the balls to rest for 5-10 minutes.

Step 7

To form a pretzel, flatten a dough ball with the palm of your hand and fold it inwards from both sides. Then roll it into a sausage. If the dough is resisting your attempts to roll it out thinner and wider, then leave it to rest for 5-10 minutes to let the gluten relax. The dough sausages need to have a thick center and very thin ends (they need to be longer and thinner than you might think at first). Twist the sausage into a pretzel shape and place it on a baking sheet that is lined with a kitchen towel. Cover with plastic wrap and leave the pretzels to proof at room temperature until doubled in size, about 1-2 hours. After that, uncover your pretzels and place them in the fridge for at least 45 minutes so they get very firm and dry out on the surface.

Step 9

Soak the pretzels in lye and bake them:

Step 10

Preheat your oven with your baking sheet or pizza stone inside to 445 °F (230 °C).

Step 12

You need to work in batches when baking the pretzels. Only bake as many at once as will fit in one layer on your baking sheet or pizza stone. Keep the other pretzels in the fridge and soak them in the lye solution just before baking. Don't soak all the pretzels at once. They need to be baked immediately after soaking.

Step 14

Put on gloves before soaking the pretzels in the room-temperature lye solution. Each pretzel should be dipped in the lye solution for no more than 3-4 seconds. Make sure to drain the soaked pretzel carefully and then place it on your pre-heated parchment-lined baking sheet or pizza stone (it's best to use a spider for this task so that any excess lye solution can drip off). Make one long diagonal cut across the pretzel belly with a razor blade or serrated bread knife. Sprinkle the pretzels with coarse salt and bake them on the middle tray of your preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until browned to your liking. Once you've taken the pretzels out of the oven, immediately spray them with water to give the surface a nice sheen and leave them to cool down on a wire rack.