Where to get Food-Grade Lye / Sodium Hydroxide / NaOH in Switzerland?

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1
Hello!

I have finally decided to make bretzels and I want to go the whole way.

I scouted all the pharmacies and drugstores nearby and I haven't been able to find lye.

I started looking online and even there I couldn't find a Swiss site which looked reliable.

Can anyone recommend a place/site to get some cheap food-grade lye for making bretzels? I was thinking to get 1 kg in powder form, just to be done for a while :P

P.S. If anyone also knows where to get Barley Malt Syrup, I'd be so happy!!

Thanks!

2

I am not sure if this is the answer you are looking for, but many Brezel recipes suggest that you use Natron - Baking soda .

3

I know but they are not authentic and the texture/taste change quite a bit. I'm trying to go for the real thing this time.

4
Sodium carbonate is better than natron. You can get sodium carbonate from you local Drogerie/Apotheke

5

Lye translates as Lauge but when you search for that, it comes back to natriumhydroxid which is Natron.

You can get Lauge here

6

CHF 15.50 / kg

https://www.bewusstseinleben.ch/shop…-naoh-granulat

Tom

7
Natron is a lay term for what is normally sodium hydrogen carbonate. Natron is not alkaline enough for this application. The sodium hydroxide (Natronlauge) quoted will work, be careful to get food grade.

My experience is from making "Laugenbrötli" where I used sodium carbonate. There is no need to go to sodium hydroxide which is more problematical in the handling.

Sodium carbonate is also great for unblocking drains

8
The lay term for sodium carbonate is Waschsoda.

9

That's great: food-grade and the real deal. Now, I've got to give myself a moment to become zen about having to pay almost more for shipping than the product itself 😂

10

I get my food grade lye or laugen perlen in German from the apotheke. Alternatively, you can order online from here . I’ve used them, but it comes in a smaller package and thus more expensive. I paid CHF 40 for 1kg and I use a 4% lye solution (40 gr. in 1l water).

Re barley malt syrup, it’s easily replaceable by honey, sugar, any other syrup you can get in Coop. The malt syrup has no more active enzymes so you use it only for the sugar. Sometime malt is added to baked products for further browining, but you won’t need that with lye as the it’s an alkaline solution which breaks down the proteins and you will get browning anyway.

Nothing beats a pretzel brioche bun!

11
A bit of a side comment, but our local Swiss baker in Takapuna sold

Laugenbrötli under the counter as the "Lauge" was not allowed under NZ food regulations - I wonder if that is still the case given the demand for Brezels

12
Where would a person find the large size pretzel salt?

13

I order mine from here .