Baking soda accident in pretzel dough - Can it be salvaged?

Taste the uncooked pretzels. That's the key. The baking soda won't affect how they bake; if the uncooked pretzels taste OK, they'll be fine. That's my opinion, there is disagreement, see the comments. If you do end up baking them, we'd love to hear the results.

As Didgeridrew mentions in comments, skip the soda in the boiling step. If the pretzels taste bad because of the soda in the dough, there isn't anything you can do to make them OK again.

I made this same mistake because I didn't read the directions all the way through. After realizing what I had done, I did a search and came across this post. Since I didn't see a response about going ahead and baking anyways, I decided might as well.... I can report back:

WORST. PRETZELS. EVER.

They were extremely bitter and performed terribly in the oven. I cannot describe how bitter they turned out, but compare it to how bitter bitter melon is, douse it in kerosene, light on fire, then put that fire out with baking soda and there you have it.

=€

As for this old question, if anyone in this situation is up for an experiment, try slowly working in some vinegar or another acid, like lemon juice. It will react with the baking soda and produce carbon dioxide and salt. So you could at least have very salty pretzels instead of bitter.

While the end result might still be too salty (or sour) to use for pretzels, it might still be edible as some kind of dinner roll. Worst case scenario, after adding enough acid to neutralize the baking soda, add water/oil until the dough is very soft, then let it relax, and stretch it verrrry thin. Brush on a little oil and seasonings of choice (probably not salt though), and bake briefly. Break apart and you can have some kind of crackers.