Nostalgia Electrics SPF200 Soft Pretzel Maker

Very easy & fast to make nice pretzels
I bought this machine worrying that it'd be hard to make pretzels, especially for me, who had never made pretzels at home before (I'm Vietnamese). I only found 1 review on Walmart.com (none from Amazon) & decided to give this machine a try today & gave my husband a "wow" :) & He did! :)

It took only about 2.5' to 3' for pretzels in the pretzel maker to be cooked. The 1st try, I was slow so I couldn't make 2 pretzels at the same times for the machine! (I used the "Auntie Anne's at-home baking it) to make pretzels. The 2nd try: I prepared them ahead so I could make 2 pretzels at once :) I didn't try to make the dough myself as I can guess it takes too much time! Buying Auntie-Anne's at-home mix is much easier for me. Besides, this mix very often has coupon inside the box : buy 1, get 1 free so it makes 2 boxes for only around $5)

I tried the small pretzel cutter. Small pretzels are more crunchy than the big ones (it took more time each but has more tiny pretzels,...

Instructions somewhat lacking but end result excellent
My husband bought this for me as a gift. I scoffed - out of earshot - at the idea of making 2 pretzels at a time when I could bake an entire panful in the oven. Starting from scratch with homemade dough, it took me 2 hrs from start to final clean-up to make one batch of 14 "jumbo" pretzels. Next time will be considerably faster, but this is not a snack to just "whip up."

The instructions are lacking in some key areas: thickness of dough (about 1/3"), clarity regarding the intent of the spring on the cutters (do NOT press the spring when trying to cut, but only if the pretzel sticks in the mold after lifting the cutter from the board), how to tell when the pretzels are done (when the green light goes off - no timer necessary). I figured out only at the very end of the first batch that a quick dip in the water-soda bath and then straight to the cooking plate makes for much less floppy dough than the recipe in which 45 seconds of soaking was called for.

Clean...

Luv it
Just made a full batch of pretzels. The included recipes are so easy and they turned out fantastic. They tasted just as good as the ones in the mall. My wife doubted that the machine would work but she is now a huge fan. Highly recommend.

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