The Salted Knot
A wholesale artisan bakery offering hand-rolled and -twisted Bavarian-style pretzels, The Salted Knot (3 Front St., Unit 206, Rollinsford, 684-2417, saltedknots.com) is a one-man operation featuring Matt Brown of Rochester. Since launching his company earlier this year, Brown has become known for his freshly baked soft pretzels at several Seacoast-area breweries and farmers markets. The Bavarian style, he said, is characterized by its crisp, hard exterior, dark mahogany-like color and soft-on-the-inside texture. In addition to offering regular salted or unsalted pretzels, Brown has several specialty flavors, like cinnamon sugar, garlic Parmesan, and Buffalo and ranch, and he has recently expanded to offering vegan pretzels with plant-based butter, as well as multiple flavors of pretzel bites and pretzel buns. You can find him at the Exeter farmers market on Thursdays through Oct. 28. Brown has a full schedule of local beer festivals he’ll be participating in — the next one will be the Powder Keg Beer Festival, happening at Swasey Parkway in Exeter on Oct. 2 — and his pretzels are regularly sold at a few local breweries, like Empty Pint Brewing Co. in Dover and Earth Eagle Brewings in Portsmouth. Pretzels can also be custom ordered through the website. The Scene recently caught up with him to talk about how he got into the pretzel-making business and some of his must-try recommendations for flavors.
How long has The Salted Knot been around?
Seven months. I started in March of this year.
What makes The Salted Knot unique?
Everything is handmade and done by me, so people are contacting me directly for orders [and] I even do all of my own deliveries. I don’t have a middleman.
What is your personal favorite specialty pretzel flavor that you make?
Right now, my personal favorite is the cinnamon sugar [pretzel] bites. They are cut into half-ounce portions and are coated with butter, cinnamon and sugar, and then they have an icing. They are great for breakfast.
What is a specialty pretzel flavor that everyone should try?
My seasonal [options], just because they are limited and they come and go quickly. Currently I’m doing pumpkin spice, and I’ll probably be doing some type of seasonal pretzel for Thanksgiving and Christmas. In March I’ll have a maple one coming out for maple season.
What celebrity would you like to see trying one of your pretzels?
I’ll go with Adam Sandler. He’s my biggest chance, since he’s a local guy.
What is an essential skill to running this type of business?
I would absolutely say organization. [When] you are the one handling everything from start to finish, you need to stay extremely organized in order to meet demands and deadlines on getting orders out the door.
What is your favorite thing about being on the Seacoast?
In general, I love being so close to the oceans and mountains and everything. There are also so many great local companies here that are making great things happen.
— Matt Ingersoll
Courtesy photo.
