Good Eats S11E2 Pretzel Logic (2/2)

[hairlesscactus]

I just tried the baking soda to the boiling water, they turned out excellent! I salted while still wet & baked, turned out a beautiful brown and great flavor! Thanks for the video tips:)

[berighteous]

OMG I just made the best pretzel I've ever had ever.

[Dewkeeper]

Well yes, if you're operating under the Brønsted–Lowry model. >.>

[terrwyns]

Wow, never thought a simple cooking show would bring out all the science geeks. LOVE IT! lol

[PhantomSavage]

Broke the first rule?..... wouldn't have taken AB as the type to join Fight Club

[tehsuck2]

what is a negatively charged hydrogen atom? An electron?

[nygreenguy]

@tehsuck2 Hydrogen anion, hydride.

[ironchefmitty]

Technically Alton, you broke the 2nd rule as well.

[MysticKnight38]

Alton got it wrong H+ is acidic (he got that part right) but bases are OH- (hydroxide ions not Hydrogen ions).... just saying

[ReasonGuysCopyright]

Haha :)

fight club reference,

[sasuke5088]

thank you for uploading this~

[69roadcrew]

alton for president

[roebuck1942]

i love this show and hate trolls 

[guitargurl37]

yay!!! batman joke!!!!

[muetter]

"Who would have thought lawyers would have a problem with a little Lye!"

[adamhunter1223]

you guys pass the bar yet?

[METALMAN4Wii]

"These Pretzels are making me Thirsty".....!

[zhaneranger]

hahaha he makes his own everything

[16hilltyKMS]

How did he get his pretzels so smooth? Mine look like...? IDK what they look like.

[janevolturi64]

NaOH! Sodium Hydroxide!

I'm learning about this stuff in chem class. Good to know that it actually comes in handy at one point in life...

[shayiscool117]

hydrogen ions dont exsit in solution instead they attach to a water molecule to make a hydronium ion

[ThePatank]

his hair is all freaky at 2 mins

[hbogart44]

I always enjoy his shows, he makes learning enjoyable and fun. The blanket comment got me thinking what else are on those unwashed airline blankets?

[matt111112222]

FUCK ALTON BROWN, HE BROKE THE FIRST SECOND AND THIRD RULE OF FIGHT CLUB

[eddievhfan1984]

@matt111112222 The first 2. The third is "Fights will go on as long as they have to."

[MiFFiL]

Going to make cheese ones.

[leah105]

@MiFFiL me too. i don't have that big salt so i'm gonna grate some fresh parmesean on top then bake:)

[NeccoWecco]

Those look soooo good. Gonna make them tomorrow!

[hereslookinaukid]

who thought "those" guys would have a problem with a little "lye"

hahahahha

[Ibeatganon4fun]

FINE! I'll make my own!

[pudidotdk]

Thanks for the recipe, Alton. They are DELICIOUS!

[PINKbyVictoriaS]

@pudidotdk Mmm, they do look good, I think I will give these a try as well!

[Goldenrod636]

Plane window is open. Won't they all be sucked out?

[danigo90]

gracias¡¡¡¡id travel all the way to philadelpia just to buy a soft pretzel¡¡¡

[andrewt248]

AB seems a bit cynical about flying commercial.

[KassurinReiChan]

Marry me, Alton! :D

[ChantyandMaya]

*GASP* "YOU SLEEZE!!!"

[arielvslotus]

I love how disheveled his hair gets, sometimes :p

[dardaf904]

I started cooking from watching this show.

[TDSW015]

Lols @ 3:20 - "waaaaaaaaah!"

[junkb0x99]

"Who would have thunk THEY would have a problem with a little Lye?" Hee hee hee!

[Chanapol7]

อยากรู้วิธีทำมานานแล้ว

ชอบกินมากเลย

I like it

[Zilege]

You reminded me about the cinnamon sugar pretzel with that sweet cream cheese stuffing inside. Man now I wanna make a stuffed pretzel thanks. =P

[xFireHeavenx]

ROFLOL the whole brulee thing was freaking hilarious!

"What do you mean?" *torch* o.O;;;

[Lisanab]

"my blanket smells like ham" hahahahaha

[jivajivan]

H2O is water!

[fruitshishkabob]

but is water H2O?

[delhideutschklub]

Thank you SO much for posting this! Yippie!

[FiSHareFRiENDSnotFUD]

Does anyone else want to try that brulee pretzal now that he mentioned it?

[zhanus]

Heh! 1960's Batman reference at 6:20. And they even play the theme afterward!

[MarcSciarra]

there are no negatively charged hydrogen in solution, but there are hydroxide ions

[gracielaespinoza]

i like how he explanes but 2 much talking that gets me confused.. he should just explane how to do the recipie and thats it....

[jigglemaster7]

youre missing the point of the show

[squeebl]

I wouldn't DREAM of pretzeling without this.

[stovetop32]

Hmmm... Did I miss something - What's up with Alton's funky hair during the pH part? Looks like he had a rough night!

[Jardenix]

Haha, I noticed that too, it looked like he got electrocuted!

[konrad1000]

"my blanket smells like ham" lol Hilarious!

[cyoo1987]

those pretzel sticks look yumm

[mattso12]

Fight Club Reference at 3:10

Also a very weird Fly away?

[jcoronet2000]

hasn't the FDA declared that bringing food (not bought in the airport) on a plane is a sure fire way to crash a plane?? i think AB may be a terrorist......

[narcissiste84]

i'm diggin the rapid-fire pop-culture references

[ravi930]

thanks AB I passed mu chemistry class final exam

[waparker4]

I made these with a sourdough starter! YUMMY

[satindesire]

Oo, sourdough pretzels? Yum!

[DarkSoldier712]

AB talked about Fight Club. Not only did he break the first rule, he broke the second one, too.

[DarkSoldier712]

I've noticed the discrepancy myself, having remembered my high school chemistry somewhat (what can I say, I had a really good teacher), but I think Jackie7575's explanation for AB's overly simplified explanation makes a lot of sense.

For the record, I still love this episode. It's one of my favorites.

[TheJuggaler]

LOL 4:08 Lawyer fist bump.

[DarkSoldier712]

Just noticed something else about the lawyers. At 6:42 you can see Itchy and Twitchy back wearing leiderhosen, as AB's Bavarian breakfast companions.

[MetaGrave]

The soft pretzels are fantastic and one of my favorite things to make, albeit a bit time consuming. But for those of you willing to take the time to make this "little reward", I share with you some advice.

1: If you forget an ingredient in the yeast mix and bring the dough together, don't dispair. Add some water, the missing ingredient, and remove wet/sticky-ness with a touch of flour.

2: Don't be shy with the egg wash.

3: If you can't get pretzel salt, Kosher salt works just fine.

[MetaGrave]

One thing I wanted to add is, in regards to pretzel salt, while Kosher DOES work just fine, if you want things a bit more even, you really should just seek out the pretzel salt. Kosher salt is really just a backup.

[zboishcha]

could you use sea salt?

[MetaGrave]

I really woudln't reccomend sea salt since it has such an odd flavor for pretzels that may not be for everybody. I'd just stick with pretzel salt, but as I mentioned before, Kosher works well too.

Of course, if its just you, knock your socks off, but it still isn't something I'd do.

[supsup195]

Rofl Itchy and Twitchy did a fist bump

[channyrose]

My blanket smells like ham

[Darlenica]

love the bush reference!

[BigStupidFingers]

HA HA! He broke the first rule! (2nd as well) ha ha

[kaizer250]

Every once in a while, I here a slight hint of his previously southern accent.

[musingmumbler]

negatively charged hydrogen atoms?

Alton, you disappoint me.

[grahambcp]

How do you mean? His deffinition of PH was spot on.

[musingmumbler]

The components of pH are hydrogen ions (H+) and hydroxide ions (OH-). More hydrogen ions mean a lower and more acidic pH, more hydroxide ions mean a higher and more basic pH. The two ions combine to form H2O, aka water. This is why combining an acid with a base creates a neutral solution. I welcome anybody to message me if they have any more questions.

[MrNgMichael]

its a show for average people, not overachievers like you

[musingmumbler]

Ha, it's just basic chemistry. He could have at least been a little more specific. I don't think that it would be out of reach for "average people". And anyways, saying stuff like "negatively charged hydrogen atoms" only makes things worse.

[grahambcp]

But that's all an ion is. It's just an atom (or group of atoms) that has/have either a positive or negative charge due to gaining or loosing electrons.

[wonderchees]

Glad I'm not the only one who noticed that! I still love good eats though! And other than that, the pH description was good for non-science people!

[lulubutterfly24]

question on the alton brown pretzels:

why does he use baking soda to boil the dough and what is the scientific explanation for using the yeast for the dough to rise?

sorry I have a chemistry Lab.

[musingmumbler]

I'm not so sure about the first question. In the episode he says that the baking sodas alkalinity breaks the long polypeptide proteins into smaller pieces that can be denatured (i.e. messed up and browned) by heat.

The yeast question is easy. Yeast are small organisms. When they grow and eat sugar, they produce carbon dioxide as a waste product. This makes lots of little bubbles in the dough and gives it a pleasing texture.

[PeachandCream]

Here's a bit of pretzel chemistry that musingmumbler wasn't so sure of. As Mr. Mumbler states "[Mr. Brown] says that the baking sodas alkalinity breaks the long polypeptide proteins into smaller pieces that can be denatured (i.e. messed up and browned) by heat."

Firstly, polypeptide chains are held together by peptide bonds which are made of a combination of an amine and a carboxyl group: R(1)O-OH + R(2)NH3 = R(1)CO-NHR(2) + H2O

By adding H2O, Alton can force the reaction backwards to break

[PeachandCream]

the protein bond.

However, he uses a combination of H2O and NaHCO3 because of several reasons:

1. H2O forces the bonds to break, though slowly.

2. NaHCO3 (baking soda) does the same thing, through a different method, because NaHCO3 = Na(s) + OH(aq) + CO2(g). Na(s) itself doesn't do much for browning and breaking bonds, but the OH(aq) does. Peptide bond reactions can be forced backwards by the addition of electronegative molecules.

[PeachandCream]

Though OH(aq) does not have a super electronegative number, 1.7, it does work in pulling apart the amine and carboxyl group molecule structures. Some of the OH will not disassociate and stay as NaOH (salt) only adds flavor to the water.

3. Boiling water is heat. Heat speeds reaction rate which allows equilibrium to be reached faster. After the addition of extra H2O and NaHCO3 the reaction will want to reverse. Heat speeds that and breaks the peptide bonds faster.

[PeachandCream]

If you have some chemistry textbooks, take a peek at the organic chemistry-Groups/bonds/pH and pOH, and equilibrium-K(b)/reaction rates.

I think most of my info is correct. I'm sorry if it's too wordy. Hoped it helped :|

[Atai9]

Why the hell are you people giving thumbs down to musingmumbler for explaining pH?

Thanks musingmumbler

[Spooky00ky]

Another Fight Club reference from Alton!

[peachy6969]

BATMAN!!!

[Zephilindrum]

01:25-01:31

So true, lol.

[MrNgMichael]

lol i learned it that way

[Magurufukuru]

How did he forget the egg wash the first time?

[eddandjack]

i was confused with this part... do you bake the pretzels then do the bath and then bake again???

or do you do the bath and egg wash then bake?

[Magurufukuru]

You would soak them then egg wash and then bake.