Braided soft pretzel apparatus and method

An automatic soft pretzel dough forming machine, comprising:

• one or more first cutters;
• one or more second cutters and one or more third cutters;
• one or more folding assemblies;
• one or more lateral cutting guillotines;
• a caustic bath;
• an oven, and
• one or more conveyors that:
• convey one or more dough sheets to the one or more first cutters forming one or more slot patterns, wherein each slot patterns are spaced apart and formed parallel to other slot patterns, wherein each slot pattern has a V-shape,
• convey the dough sheet with the slot pattern to the one or more second cutters and one or more third cutters, wherein the one or more second cutters cut the dough sheet into one or more dough strips, wherein the one or more third cutters cut over the middle portion of each V-shaped slot pattern so that each dough strip comprises a center portion, a first series of dough segments extending from a first side of the center portion and a second series of dough segment extending from a second side opposite to the first side of the center portion,
• convey the one or more dough strips to the one or more folding assemblies that folds one segment from the first side over another segment on the second side to form a braid pattern,
• convey the folded dough strip to the one or more lateral cutting guillotines that transversely cut each folded dough strip into dough bites,
• convey the dough bites through a caustic bath that washes each dough bite in a caustic solution, and
• convey the washed dough bites through the oven that bakes the washed dough bite into a pretzel bite, wherein the braid pattern allows a volume of the pretzel bite to increase without being constrained by a pretzel skin formed around each braid pattern to aerate an interior of each pretzel bite.