Mix sourdough pre-dough ingredients in a small bowl. Let stand for 20-24 hours at room temperature.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, butter and salt for the main dough. Put sourdough pre-dough on top and pour over water. Gradually mix in liquid with your fingers until hydrated and crumbly, but can be kneaded into a ball.

Form dough into a rough ball and remove from bowl to a floured surface for kneading. Knead until smooth about 10 minutes.

Return to bowl and cover. Let rest for 90 minutes.

Divide dough into 8 pieces. Form into rounds for pretzel rolls, or roll out into long pieces to form into twisted pretzel shapes. (I'll explain how to make the shapes below):

For rolls, take a piece of the dough and gently pull up and fold the sides of the dough into the center of the ball, rotating as you go. You're trying to get the bottom part nice and round and smooth.

Turn over so the folds are on the bottom and place on the tray.

For the pretzel twists, first roll each piece of dough into short "log" shape by folding over the edges of the dough over itself 3-4 times. Gently press down at the edge of the fold each time you fold over, but be careful not to squash out all the air in the log.

The point is to get an evenly thick cylinder/log shape so you can roll them out nicely without getting a lopsided pretzel.

Next, using your fingers (not palms!), gradually roll out the edges of each log into long pointy ends (see next photo). Leave the very middle intact as this part will be the plump part of the pretzel. If the the dough is slipping as you roll, spray a little bit of water on your working surface so the dough sticks just a tad bit without slipping.

Here is what it looks like when you're finished rolling out! It's about 4 times the length of the original log shape.

Now just twist the ends once or twice around each other like this.

Then flip the twist up and over, pressing the very tips into the dough at towards the top with your finger.

Arrange them on a tray with some space in between...

Then cover lightly with a tea towel. Place in refrigerator for 9-12 hours. This lets it slowly rise giving it more flavor and lets the outside dry a little bit, making it easier to dunk in lye water or boil in the baking soda water.

Prepare the Lye Wash: Put 500 ml of cold water into a medium bowl and then carefully put the lye into the water and gently stir to dissolve. The water will become cloudy at first, but then clear up again. (note: DO NOT use aluminum bowls because the lye will react with aluminum).

Take the pretzels out of the fridge. Make sure you put on rubber gloves that will not let any lye liquid go through to your skin! One by one, dunk each pretzel into the lye water for 4-5 seconds making sure all surfaces are submerged in the water. Shake off excess liquid and move each pretzel to your lined baking sheet.

For the twisted pretzel, make a horizontal slit across the fat part of the pretzel.

For the pretzel rolls, cut a fairly deep X into the roll with scissors.

Bake for 18 minutes at 210°C/410°F. Remove from oven and let cool on a cooling rack for a few minutes. Enjoy with plenty of butter!!