Combine warm water, sugar, and yeast into a bowl and set aside for about 5 minutes, until it starts to bubble and become aromatic
Into a mixing bowl add bread flour, salt, and the water and yeast mixture. Using a dough hook, mix on medium speed until the dough forms and pulls away from the bowl.
Continue to knead the dough for a couple of minutes until the dough has become springy and stretchy. It should be sticky to the touch, but not messy.
Place the dough ball into a lightly floured bowl and cover (I use a warm, damp kitchen towel). Set aside for about 55 minutes, enough for the dough to rise.
Press the air out of the dough and turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into 8 equal sized portions.
Working one at a time, roll each dough ball out until it forms a strand about 20-24 inches in length. Like how you might make a snake out of play-doh.
Form the pretzel shape by grabbing each end of the dough strand and crossing one end over the other so that it resembles an 'X' with a rounded bottom. Now take each end and and twist them around each other then place the ends over the bottom rounded part. Adjust the shape until it looks just like you expect a pretzel to look. If the ends do not stick to the bottom of the pretzel, use a very small amount of water on your finger to just dampen the dough enough so it sticks to itself.This takes a little bit of patience and practice to get the hang of, so don't be discouraged if you don't get it right the first time! Set formed pretzels on two cooking sheets lined with a silpat (4 pretzels per sheet) Preheat oven to 425 degrees
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Then, into an 8 quart stock pot, add about 3 quarts of water and 3 heaping tablespoons of baking soda. Stir together and bring to a rolling boil.
Meanwhile, crack the egg into a small bowl, add about 1 Tbsp of water, then mix with a fork to create an egg wash. Set aside.
When the baking soda bath is ready, slowly place pretzel dough in one at a time for 30 seconds. Be careful when first adding the dough, the baking soda water tended to bubble up pretty quick, so it's important to do this with a high walled pot.
After 30 seconds, carefully remove dough from the water and place back on the cooking sheet. I used a spider strainer to do this. Repeat the baking soda batch until you have 1 tray of 4 pretzels done, then lightly brush the tops of them with the egg wash. Sprinkle the top with your choice of kosher salt, pretzel salt, or everything bagel seasoning. (I used kosher salt and everything bagel seasoning)
Cook in the 425 degree oven for 15 minutes.
Set aside to cool and repeat the bath, egg wash, and baking with the other four pretzels.
