Pretzel recipe

Question: the dough is too soft - almost mushy. what did i do wrong?
answer: the amount of water depends very much on the flour, the temperature and other things. that's why i generally only add about 90% of the amount of liquid and then test how the dough feels with my fingers towards the end of the kneading process. if the dough is still a little too firm, i add the remaining amount of water. if the dough is ok (ok it's too soft rather than too firm) i don't add anything more. it is better to avoid some water than to add flour later, as water can no longer be removed once it is in the dough.
if dough is very warm at around 30 degrees or more, less water is added than if dough is rather cool at around 22 degrees. the only thing that helps here is a thermometer because the feeling is often very misleading, as i discover in my courses.
what has been said so far about the temperature does not apply to rye sourdough breads as temperatures of 26-28 degrees are desired (see sourdough recipe).