why do salted soft pretzels sweat if left out over night?
In: Chemistry
Salt attracts water, something that is covered in salt will drag humidity from the air around it and thus become soggy, it also drags water from inside the pretzel to the outside. Wherever there is salt, water goes there.
Nothing to do with the pretzel itself, but the salt on it.
The air is full of tiny particles of water just floating around, and soft pretzels have a ton of water in them. Water is very “sticky” – it easily makes bonds with many types of substances. Substances which very readily make new bonds with the water around them are known as *hygroscopic* (yes, hy**g**ro not hy**d**ro).
Salt is highly hygroscopic, so it basically sucks water out of the air and out of the pretzel and leaves it in droplet form on your pretzel – hence the “sweat.”
Soft pretzel still have a good bit of water in them, and that water along with the gluten is part of what makes them stay soft.
Evaporation will cause it to lose water, and having salt on the surface will also draw out water, so between the two it tends to be pretty noticeable.
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