The Dish: Philly Pretzel Factory founder shares secrets, story behind their famous soft pretzels

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Fewer flavors say "Philly" better than a soft pretzel and we're finding out the secrets and the backstory of a local institution: Philly Pretzel Factory.

It all started when CEO and co-founder Dan DiZio was just 11 years old.

"I used to sneak out of school," DiZio laughs. "I used to check in and then sneak out and go sell pretzels all day on the corner."

His neighbor had leftover pretzels from their bakery and offered DiZio a chance to make a buck.

"For some reason, my mom said it'd be okay to stand on Roosevelt Boulevard and Rhawn Street, which, as you know, is a 12-lane highway," he says. "I sold 1,000 pretzels that day, I got $100 dollars and he got $100 and I was hooked."

The Dish: Philly Pretzel Factory founder shares secrets, story behind their famous soft pretzels

This is how DiZio became an entrepreneur.

"Within a couple of weeks, everybody in my school saw me walking around with big wads of $1 bills," he says. "They wanted a job and I started organizing kids to stand on the corners."

Fast forward to 1998 when DiZio and his college roommate Len Lehman opened Philly Pretzel Factory.

They drove to Florida to buy an old pretzel machine.

"We called a tow truck to drag it out of this guy's garage," he says, telling the saga of the machine. "We put it on the truck and we made the drive up to Philadelphia. We had no idea where we're going to put it, but then I heard a rumor that there was a spot on Frankford Avenue that was for rent in Mayfair."

They planned for that location be a factory, like the name suggests, but it ended up being a retail location, thanks to demand.

"On May 2, 1998 we opened up and at nine in the morning. When we were going to close, there was a line out the door," DiZio says.

They didn't even have a cash register!

"We used aprons when we first opened, and just put the cash in there," he laughs. "We didn't know people were going to come in."

Today, there are 175 Philly Pretzel Factory locations across the country - and counting.

"I love everything about this business, and the happiness it provides," DiZio says.

The recipe is their secret sauce and has become synonymous with our city.

"It's a blended flour and we've been using the same product for 26 years," he says.

Flour is one of four simple ingredients, along with water, yeast, and conditioner, for elasticity.

"When you stretch it to shape it, they might snap without that," he says.

Once it's all mixed, knead it into a long strand.

All of this is done by machine at the Philly Pretzel Factory's headquarters in Bensalem, except for one critical step.

"People are always amazed that we're still hand twisting the pretzels!" says DiZio.

And there's a choreography to it!

"You want to get a little bounce to it," DiZio demonstrates. "It looks like it almost goes around twice, and then you push it in and you stretch it out. That's the Philly style pretzel."

There's a story to our unique shape, which differs from the two-looped Bavarian pretzel.

"Back in the day, somebody had order for pretzels that they couldn't keep up with, DiZio explains. "Somebody decided to push all the pretzels together, like an accordion, to fit them in the oven. That's where the Philly style was invented."

Here, they go five to a row.

"Every pretzel's different," he says. "It's like snowflakes. They're all a little different."

Once they're twisted, let them rest in the fridge for a few hours. Next, it's a quick dip in a baking soda bath, to get that bronze color.

"Otherwise, it would look like a bagel," DiZio explains .

Then, the iconic salting. The higher you salt, the more evenly it distributes across the pretzels.

Now, into the oven they go for about eight minutes. And of course, eat them hot!

Philly Soft Pretzel Recipe

Ingredients:

• 3 and 3/4-4 cups all-purpose flour, or the flour or your choice

• 1 and 1/2 cups warm water

• 2 and 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 standard packet)

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 Tablespoon sugar

• 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter - melted

• coarse salt for after baking

Baking Soda Bath

• 1/2 cup baking soda

• 9 cups warm water - boiled

Directions:

1. Whisk together yeast, warm water, salt, sugar, and melted butter. Use a mixer to add the flour. The dough should have a bouncy consistency.

2. Knead and roll out into log strands. Create pretzel shape. Refrigerate overnight.

3. Dip in a boiling baking soda bath, drain and then salt.

4. Bake at 400 degrees for about 8 minutes, or until golden brown.