Upon coming back from a current trip and listening to a pretzel style take a look at had taken place in his absence, Daniel pinged me to ask: “Have been the outcomes messy? I’d guess they might be.” It took me a beat to understand that he wasn’t speaking about, like, a fun-filled day in a crumb-strewn kitchen requiring an intensive sweeping. As an alternative, he was suggesting that most pretzels style roughly the identical more often than not and due to this fact our style take a look at outcomes shouldn’t be conclusive. 

However are all pretzels created equal? Or are pretzels nuanced snowflakes with a variety of textures, flavors, and ranges of salt and alkalinity? To reach at a solution, the SE staff pulled collectively seven manufacturers of good, old style snacky pretzels you are more likely to discover in your native grocery store, and methodically, empirically, scientifically! tasted its manner by means of all of them in a quest to determine the perfect.

There was a transparent winner! There was a transparent—properly, we don’t do “losers.” However there have been ones that had been very clearly not the winner(s)! After which there have been a bunch of very pleasant pretzels proper within the center, ones we would mindlessly eat with out a second thought if we weren’t very intentionally scrutinizing them in a style take a look at.

Anyway! It was a productive train. Now we will all make knowledgeable pretzel-buying selections collectively. We could? 

Ed. Notice: We needed to attempt Herr’s and Uncle Jerry’s pretzels to no avail. I’m begging you, as soon as once more, to grasp that we would not have a West Coast correspondent (or an excited editorial assistant) to assist us procure these items!! However we do actually love the suggestions. Hold it coming!! Xx.

The Contenders

• Bachman Skinny’n Proper Pretzels
• Brad’s Natural Mini Pretzels
• Rold Gold Tiny Twists
• Snack Manufacturing unit Pretzel Chips
• Snyder’s of Hanover Mini Pretzels
• Utz Basic Thins
• Wegman’s Mini Pretzels

The Standards

A great pretzel is a factor of subtlety and refinement. It’s salty, for certain, however it’s also calmly candy—not candy like dessert, however candy in the way in which sandwich bread grows candy the longer you chew it. Typically, the sweetness has a touch of malt to it. (In a sneak-peak of our outcomes, we will now say with confidence {that a} pretzel that’s salty and malty is, in reality, higher than one which’s merely salty and candy.) That stated, salty and malty ought to by no means grow to be “salty and toasty,” which rapidly devolves into, “Oh god, was there a fireplace on the pretzel manufacturing unit??”

The salt ought to be current as small crystals atop the pretzel in an excellent distribution, nevertheless it also needs to very distinctly be coming from the pretzel dough. It may be a plus if a pretzel tastes subtly of butter, however by no means a lot that in your coronary heart that butter is synthetic.

And I might be remiss if I did not point out {that a} good pretzel ought to have a deeply burnished brown exterior courtesy of a dip in an alkaline lye bathtub earlier than baking. This isn’t just for appears; it is this alkaline floor remedy that’s accountable for a pretzel’s signature roasty, toast, weirdly pleasantly soapy taste. (Science time: The robust alkaline bathtub speeds the Maillard response throughout baking, which is the response that drives the browning of bread crusts, seared steaks, and roasted greens, resulting in such a well-developed and flavorful exterior regardless of a thin little pretzel’s comparatively brief cooking time.)

Measurement additionally factored into individuals’s preferences in that something that took greater than two bites to totally eat ended up on the backside of those rankings. This might be as a result of most tasters want a smaller pretzel’s larger ratio of alkaline floor space to malty-sweet inside. Or it might be as a result of smaller pretzels are thinner, resulting in a crispier chew that does not wade into the crunchy-tough zone. Or perhaps of us identical to popping handfuls of their mouths suddenly with out discomfort, as a result of is not that what snacking is all about? 

Ultimately, it was a pleasant and salty day. Not our saltiest, for certain, however pleasantly and professionally salty all the identical.

The Rankings

Bachman Skinny’n Proper Pretzels, 4.125/5

Mentions of the phrase “basic” abounded right here. Did we get as far as to drag a “that is what I consider once I consider what a [pretzel] tastes like” from Genevieve? No, however she did write “Wow!” twice, as soon as in reference to exterior salt ranges and one other praising the pretzels’ total sturdiness. It was slightly candy! Just a little buttery! A little alkaline! And every pretzel was very simple to eat in 1.5-2 bites.

Rold Gold Tiny Twists, 3.79/5

OK, I wrote too quickly. This is the place Genevieve wrote: “This tastes like lye. It tastes like pretzels!” (She did then ask: “Is that this Snyder’s?” which…extra on that quickly.) Everybody agreed there was a very good quantity of salt, in addition to a gently buttery, toasty end. The crunch was good, the salt was well-distributed—it was a celebration!

These had been solely knocked from high seeding as a result of they weren’t not dry. Style take a look at visitor star/Severe Eats product lead Alison wrote: “These have a pleasant glaze, however they take some time to chew. I simply want water to assist issues alongside, that’s all!” (We didn’t go into this take a look at anticipating dryness to be a differentiating issue amongst pretzels—aren’t all snack-bag pretzels equally dry, and is not {that a} good factor?—however one thing in regards to the texture of some pretzels made them appear extra dry to our tasting panel than others in a manner that wasn’t perceived as completely nice. This can be a good second to remind readers that every taster goes by means of the samples in a randomized order, so the problem might be not something so simple as, “all pretzels appear too dry after the primary few bites.”)

Snyder’s of Hanover Mini Pretzels, 3/5

Snyder’s tasted and smelled distinctly bready, as if tender pretzels had been in our future. They weren’t, and that was unhappy, however the remainder of this pretzel-eating expertise was so good! Allison didn’t want water to push by means of, Kelli appreciated the snap and subsequent chew, and Genevieve once more loved the crunch. That stated, all of us discovered ourselves craving salt after this pattern, which, in a pretzel style take a look at, is assured to knock you down a number of.

Wegman’s Mini Pretzels, 2.97/5

It was right here that the distinction between a pleasing pretzel second and a satisfactory one turned—as at all times, respectfully!!—abundantly clear. It was additionally right here that I observed that malt falls off ingredient lists (solely the Snack Manufacturing unit pretzels ranked under picks it again up once more), a robust indicator that maltiness is a vital part of an ideal pretzel, and merchandise that lack it are much less more likely to please. The butter aftertaste right here was good, nevertheless it was additionally distinctly synthetic. The alkalinity was satisfying, however solely when you’d had three or 4 pretzels. The salt was there, nevertheless it wasn’t sufficient or heartily textured. The yeast was—properly, honestly, considered one of our testers stated these tasted alcoholic. Not…a foul factor? Simply one thing nearly actually price noting.

Utz Basic Thins, 2.88/5

These had been dry sufficient that they had been a problem to chew and swallow, and, as Amanda so fittingly wrote: “I’m simply now realizing that’s not what I would like from my pretzels.” The dryness did permit for a stage of crunch three-fifths of our testers loved, however, to cite Amanda once more, “it was a tragic crunch.” Nonetheless, Allison and Genevieve each talked about the salt crystals had been the proper measurement to fulfill their salt cravings.

Snack Manufacturing unit Pretzel Chips, 2.79/5

I did throw this little curveball into the style take a look at pondering I’d find yourself in 5 totally different fights about what qualifies as a pretzel (and don’t fear—I did!), however what individuals struggled with right here was the sweetness. Each particular person recognized a direct “honey-like” style upon first chew, in addition to a honeyed aftertaste that lingered. That sweetness overwhelmed nearly any discover of saltiness or alkalinity. One of many tasters additionally stated these had been so sharp upon first chew she was anxious “a nook would jut into the roof of my mouth??”

Brad’s Natural Mini Pretzels, 2.33/5

We love and recognize Brad, however we will additionally, in good religion, have questions for him about his plain and disintegrating pretzels! For starters: How! Additionally: Why?

Our Testing Methodology

All style assessments are performed with manufacturers fully hidden and with out dialogue amongst tasters that would affect outcomes. Tasters style samples in random order. For instance, taster A might style pattern 1 first, whereas taster B will style pattern 6 first. That is to forestall palate fatigue from unfairly giving anybody pattern a bonus. Tasters are requested to fill out tasting sheets rating the samples for varied standards. All information is tabulated and outcomes are calculated with no editorial enter with the intention to give us probably the most neutral illustration of precise outcomes potential.