I hope a little attitude to my dining challenge will be allowed by the mods ....

An issue I've never been able to resolve ..... so don't know if there's any ideas!

A once a week addition to our dining reportoire are home made burgers in buns. They are wonderful even if I say so myself. 'Er indoors goes all quiet ... .which is highly unusual ... so I know she loves them as well. I digress.

I have tried all sorts of burger buns - and all of them form a mush when you put the burger in and start handling the burger. I've tried toasting, buttering + sugaring + frying, halving then baking them ..... I've even made my own from scratch using an enriched brioche/cholla type bread mix of my own invention - which I then toast or saute. I've even tried to let them stale before using. But nothing seems to produce a bap at home that doesn't flatten into a naan thickness and then disintigrate.

Baps from Burger King or Macdonalds don't seem to disintigrate when you buy them. I'm wondering whether in the process of extending life of supermarket baps they make them too wet?

I know this is a really narrow concern issue but it's become an obsession ...... but any ideas about how to improve my baps?!

The best burger bun recipe can be found in Heston Blumenthal's in search of perfection. He makes a batter which he then bakes in metal ring and holds together brilliantly.

Sorry to ask a stupid question.... but why are you calling burger buns 'baps'? Ive never heard that before & I was wondering where it came from....

(also because i thought i was clicking on a thread about korean rice..... bap/pap )

Thanks! I'll experiment.

British shorthand / slang for large soft roll. Among other things:

http://onlineslangdictionary.com/definition+of/baps

Not certain that's correct ..... I think it's a fairly old established word.

Morning rolls (a Westascotlan staple) are my favourite with greasy fried meat (another Westascotlan staple). You basically need a dough with added lard (or veg oil if you prefer) and some brown sugar. Dust the top with rice flour to give the proper consistency.

Alternatively, if you've got a decent sourdough starter on the go...

Thanks for the (multiple) definitieions!

I suppose in the states the word 'buns' has multiple uses as well....

Either way... dough + a bit of lard or other fat= excellent. Ive had the irish version with currants before, very nice.

oh, and regarding the issue.... is it possible that the problem isnt with your baps/buns at all, and the burger just needs more time to 'rest' after cooking?

I like a set of filled baps as well as the next man.

Have you tried frying the buns in the grease from just-fried burgers? Wouldn't work for lean ground beef, but the el cheapo hamburger, fried in an iron skillet, produces a traditional (pre-thick burgers, pre-franchise burgers) grease for frying the bun. Be sure to have add-on ingredients, mustard, pickles, whatever, at least at room temperature, not cold, before adding them.

If you don't want fried bread, at least toast the bread--maybe with butter and garlic? Putting a hot beef patty into a room-temperature or chilled bun is almost guaranteed to produce sogginess. Try to keep the temperatures between bun and beef patty at the same temperature before combining.

If nothing else works, maybe switching to stale, dry bread might work?

Anyhow, I am guessing that either temperature or moisture might be contributing to the problem.

You could try a ciabatta / focaccia type roll? Not entirely what I would call a burger bap, but I rather like them.

And if we are talking baps (perfectly normal phrase for a filled roll for lunch!) what about barms, barmcakes, buns, stotties, yorkshire teacakes (not currant teacakes), cobs, batches, oven bottoms, etc. Many a night in halls at Uni spent arguing over proper terms!

I had to click on the thread to figure out what it was.

My suggestion is to be sure the bun is toasted and hot before placing the burger onto the bun. If you don't want to toast them, try heating them in the oven for a few minutes first.

I've started using the yudane(japanese)/tangzhong(chinese) method recently and am still experimenting with this technique.

Might be perfect for your buns, particularly as it is so easy to make the dough for this with the help of a bread machine.

Alhough I haven't got to making rolls, baps or buns yet, this blogger has and if you scroll down you'll see how he/she adapted a recipe to making burger buns
http://kopiaste.org/2010/03/buns-wit...zhong-starter/

Thanks for the pointer.

Call me a cynical old *******, but do you not share my suspicion about the quality of end item in all of the photographs but the sesame baps in particluar? Not look a touch too perfect? Very commercial looking?!



I ended up developing my own hybrid recipe that is between a cholla and brioche and I use the breadmaker and simply slice it and grill it. The only concession is my burgers are square rather than round. Happy to post my breadmaker recipe if anyone's interested - but it is my favourite machine bread - but very rich.

That was actually my first impression, but I looked closer an realised only one had been photographed (carefully) and it had an over-toasted bit, definitely a lucky break but one anyone could have (yudane bread dough is really supple and easy to get 'professional' results with). The comments all seemed credible too.

Having now looked even closer, I can see that the blogger is a she and has already had a cookbook published: http://www.amazon.com/Cinnamon-Bloss.../dp/1449997813

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Personally, my entry into yudane baking has been this recipe:
http://en.christinesrecipes.com/2010...ese-style.html
But it isn't suitable for baps (too sweet and milky).