Lye Water
Serves: 125 ml or 1/2 cup
How to make homemade lye water for use in recipes such as Pretzels and Mooncakes. Recipe with step-by-step photos.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup baking soda
- cold water
Instructions
To Bake the Baking Soda
- Preheat the oven to 120°C/250°F (without fan).
- Place the baking soda into a small oven-proof dish.
- Bake the baking soda for 1 hour.
- Remove the dish from the oven.
- Let the baking soda cool completely.
- Carefully transfer the baking soda to a sterilised glass jar. Take care not to touch the baked baking soda with your bare hands as it may irritate the skin.
To Make the Lye Water
- Make the lye water just before you need to use it.
- To make lye water for use in most recipes, you need to use a ratio of 1:4, i.e. 1 part baked baking soda to 4 parts water.
- So for 1 teaspoon of lye water, mix 1/4 teaspoon baked baking soda with 1 teaspoon water.
- Any unused lye water can be discarded down the kitchen drain.
Kitchen Notes
- HOW MUCH BAKING SODA TO USE
If you need to use lye water only occasionally, I recommend baking about 1/2 cup of baking soda at a time and storing it in a glass jar or glass spice jar. The baked baking soda keeps fairly well indefinitely in a sterilised jar, but make sure you label it accordingly. - OVEN TEMPERATURES
All recipes on this website state temperatures for a regular oven (i.e. a conventional oven without fan). If you have a convection oven with a fan, please consult the manufacturer's handbook on how to adjust the temperature and baking time accordingly. - CONVERSIONS
To convert from cups to grams, and vice-versa, please see this handy Conversion Chart for Basic Ingredients.