Sorry for the hijack (and I totally grabbed this off of another forum):
As lye is very dangerous, consider your own sodium carbonate (washing soda) which, while not as basic as lye, it is more basic than baking soda.
You can make your own washing soda by baking "baking soda"
The NY Times had a good article on doing this.
"The Curious Cook
For Old-Fashioned Flavor, Bake the Baking Soda"
by Harold McGee
"Just spread a layer of soda on a foil-covered baking sheet and bake it at 250 to 300 degrees for an hour. You’ll lose about a third of the soda’s weight in water and carbon dioxide, but you gain a stronger alkali. Keep baked soda in a tightly sealed jar to prevent it from absorbing moisture from the air. And avoid touching or spilling it. It’s not lye, but it’s strong enough to irritate.
Baked soda is also strong enough to make a good lye substitute for pretzels. In order to get that distinctive flavor and deep brown color, pretzel makers briefly dunk the shaped pieces of raw dough in a lye solution before baking them. Many home recipes replace the lye with baking soda, but the results taste like breadsticks, not pretzels."
The entire article is worth reading for some good kitchen chemistry.
Hey Keith,
Thanks for the info! I was aware of the baking soda substitution, but had never heard of the baked baking soda before. I had a supply of the Red Devil lye that I had always used for the pretzels, but I recently ran out. I plan to try this baked soda technique soon. My soft German style pretzels are always a big hit wherever I take them. The distinctive pretzel flavor is essential. Otherwise, they are nothing more than an oddly shaped bagel.
This tip will go into my recipe archive immediately.