Pretzel Dogs

• 
  1 1/2 cups warm water
  1 tablespoon sugar
  2 teaspoons kosher salt
  1 package dry active yeast
  4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  10 cups water
  2/3 cup baking soda*
  1 large egg yolk, beaten with 1 tablespoon water
  Pretzel salt (or kosher salt), for topping
  8 hot dogs, cut in half
  Directions:
  - Combine the warm water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes, until the yeast is foamy and begins to smell of yeast.
  - Add the flour and butter to the yeast mixture. Attach the dough hook to the stand mixer and, on medium-low speed, combine the mixture until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and appears shiny, roughly 4 to 5 minutes.
  - Spray a large bowl with non-stick spray (or lightly grease with vegetable oil) and place dough in greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. Place bowl in a warm area (near the oven, perhaps) and let dough rise for about 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
  - Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Spray parchment paper with non-stick spray. Set aside.
  - In a large pot, bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a roiling boil.
  - Place the dough on a greased surface, and divide into 16 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a long rope, roughly 12 inches long. Carefully wrap each piece around a half hot dog. Pinch the ends together to seal the dough. Alternatively, to make regular pretzels, shape the rope into a U shape, cross the ends over each other and fold the twisted ends back onto the bottom of the U. Again, pinch the dough together to form a seal. Place each shaped pretzel on the parchment lined baking sheet.
  - Boil the shaped pretzels and pretzel dogs, one at a time, in the baking soda water for 30 seconds each. Using a slotted spatula, remove each pretzel dog from the water and place it on a drying rack to allow any extra baking soda mixture to drip off.
  - Place the boiled pretzel dogs back on the parchment lined baking sheets.
  - Brush with beaten egg yolk and sprinkle with pretzel or kosher salt.
  - Bake until golden brown, roughly 14 to 15 minutes. Transfer pretzel dogs to a cooling rack for a few minutes before serving. Serve with a variety of mustards.
  Makes 16 pretzel dogs.
  * Yes, I know that this seems like a crazy amount of baking soda, but trust me, you need it