• About 6 hours before beginning, feed your sourdough starter. Let it rise until doubled in size.
• Once risen, in a large bowl combine the starter, flour, water, brown sugar and salt and mix it together into a shaggy dough.
• Tip it onto a clean work surface and knead for 10 minutes until the dough is strong and smooth. Alternatively, use the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment.
• Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and let the dough rise in a warm place for around 4-5 hours until it has almost doubled. If the dough is drying out, spritz it lightly with water.
• After this rise, cover the dough tightly and refrigerate it overnight (or up to 24 hours.)

Shaping

• Take the cold dough from the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. Pull it from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface.
• Shape the dough into a ball and weigh it on kitchen scales. Divide this number by 8. Cut the dough into 8 equal pieces of this weight and shape each piece into a ball.
• Take a piece of dough and roll it out into a 24inch/60cm long rope. Take the two ends of the rope and bring them together at the top and twist the ends together.
• Fold the twisted ends down. Place the shaped pretzels on flour-dusted parchment paper while you shape the rest of the dough.
• Let the shaped pretzel dough rest at room temperature for around an hour until puffy.
• When they have nearly finished puffing, preheat the oven to 425°F/220°C.

Poaching and baking

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
• Once boiling, add baking soda. Be careful because it will foam up.
• Poach the pretzels, two at a time, in the boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove them with a slotted spoon and allow the water to drain for 10 seconds.
• Place the poached pretzel onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Repeat with the remaining pretzels.
• Bake the pretzels in a hot oven for around 15-20 minutes until deep golden brown. Turn the baking sheet halfway through if they are browning unevenly.