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"Just Look At Those Buns"
(Classic Bun Recipe For Hamburgers Or Hot Dogs)

I don't know the figures for the U.K., but Americans consume more than 16 billion hot dogs each year… seven billion during the summer months alone! That means we eat six hundred hot dogs every second! If you make your own frankfurters, you should have great buns to put them on. Here’s how:

1 cup milk
½ cup water
¼ cup butter
¼ cup shortening
4-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 package (.25 ounce) instant yeast
2 tblspns. white sugar
1-1/2 tspns. salt
1 egg

In a small saucepan, heat the milk, water and butter only until tepid (about 110 degrees F.) In a large bowl, mix together 1-3/4 cup flour, yeast, sugar, and salt. Mix the milk mixture into the flour mixture, and then mix in the egg. Stir in the remaining flour, a little at a time, until dough is made. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until it is smooth and elastic. Cover, the dough and allow it to rise for 30 to 35 minutes. Punch it down and allow it to rise again before dividing it and shaping it into buns. Place the shaped dough onto a greased baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees F. for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the buns are golden brown.

Best Wishes, Chuckwagon

Chuckwagon

I have noticed that many US bread recipes contain, what to us is, a lot of sugar. Is this the norm?

Phil

Hi Phil,
It certainly is and I really can't tell you why other than the insatiable appetite for sweets made obvious by the typically overweight American. I visited a bakery to find the "magic" ingredient for hot dog buns. The baker just smiled at me as he dipped his shovel into the sugar bin and calmly added enough processed white granulated snow to choke my Aunt Matilda! Perhaps this craving for sweet food, plus the sedentary lifestyle common in the United States is the reason we Americans have such a high rate of diabetes. Nevertheless, it surely makes a great bun!
Best wishes, Chuckwagon

Phil In my own reciepes I always use 2 tbs. of sugar or other sweetener (maple syrup,honey,treacle etc.)

Jim.

To what ratio of flour Jim?

Same as Chuckwagons 500gms flour.Mind you I use wholemeal and less yeast and salt.I think it gives the yeast a bit of help

Jim

Jim

I can understand it with treacle/honey, and in a wholemeal - I doubt it tastes sweet in the finished product; but many of the US bread recipes I have made, dinner rolls et al, have been so sweet I could have iced them and sold them as 'iced buns'. I just wondered whether this is commonplace with US bread?

Phil

Just about all US bread is overly sweet to me. I have been here for 25 years and apart from the odd fresh made bread the rest tastes too sweet. I have been making my own bread for the last year or so just to make a good bacon buttie. Thanks to this site I now make my own bacon to go with my home made oven bottom cakes.
I might give this recipe a try though and adjust a little as there is nothing like a good chicago dog all the way and if I can make some good rolls a little less sweet it will be perfect.

Hi Dragoon and welcome to the board. You’re right about the sweetness of bread in the U.S. and kids today grow up with the stuff showing on their waistlines too. Growing up, our daily “ranchbread” was not sweet at all and had quite a large crumb. My mother’s dough was so dry we kids used to make “clay pigeons” from the stuff for shotgun practice. You see, unlike commercial target clay pigeons, our homemade flying disks would not fly apart having received a full blast of a 12 gauge shotgun. We used them over and over again. And having eaten “mom’s home recipe” for years, we youngsters mostly went on to lead normal lives. I can’t remember where I stole the above recipe, but it is a good one although it is a bit sweet - just right for us hot dog lovin’ yanks. What kind of bacon are you making dragoon?
Best wishes, Chuckwagon

Remember sugar is the protein source for yeast to expand further and make a bigger, softer bun. If you modify your sugar content, you should also change your butter/shortening content.


David

Agreed, but added sugar isn't necessary for yeast to 'work on' flour.

Enzymes in yeast break down starch in the flour and convert into glucose (sugar). Then enzymes in the yeast convert the sugar into carbon dioxide, causing the dough to rise.

Phil

If I use fresh yeast I don't use any sugar at all, likewise if I use bread improvers (soft roll improver is great BTW). However, I use 1 tbps to 500gr flour if I use dried yeast.

Jen

I get the impression that it's more to do with the taste, rather than fermentation, in the States?

Phil

Remember sugar is the protein source for yeast to expand further and make a bigger, softer bun. If you modify your sugar content, you should also change your butter/shortening content.

The fat content makes the bread softer - Low fat breads are more chewy, high fat breads are more cake like. The fat coats the protiens and stops the gluten developing. Acidity also weakens the gluten - which is why you put lemon juice in short crust pastry.

The enzymes in the flour convert the starches to sugars - A slow rise will allow more sugars to be released, resulting in a better tasting bread. These are the same enzymes that the grain uses to convert the starch to sugar when germinating - you add water and they activate.

Moisture content helps with the rise - the more moisture, the more pliable the dough and the easier it will expand. However, the wetter the dough, the more of a pain it is to work with.

Mat