"It requires a certain kind of mind to see beauty in a hamburger bun. Yet, is it any more unusual to find grace in the texture and softly curved silhouette of a bun than to reflect lovingly on the hackles of a favorite fishing fly? Or the arrangement of textures and colors in a butterfly's wing?” Ray Kroc, McDonald’s founder
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| US Foods delectably soft rustic buns start with an authentic French pâte fermentée for a slightly sweet, complex flavor and light, chewy texture. Our Traditional bun has a soft, semi-open crumb and golden brown crust. Our Seeded Salt and Pepper Bun features premium sesame and poppy seeds, sea salt adn cracked pepper. Hefty enough to hold a meaty burger when loaded with delicious toppings. |
The first production of soft, yeast buns in 1912 started the doughy sandwich makers on a roll that continues to this day. Chefs, both professional and home cooking amateurs, can choose from a widening variety that starts with whole wheat, multigrain, sourdough or potato buns, adorned with toppings ranging from traditional poppy seeds to the more unusual melted Asiago cheese, salt and pepper, rolled oats and olive oil, but after a century of eating, a hamburger on a bun still spells all-American perfection.
Start at Square One. Although many claim to have invented the first hamburger sandwich, some credit Louis Lassen for the creation of a ground steak patty between two pieces of white toast at his New Haven, Connecticut lunch stand in 1900. Others say “Old Dave” Davis wins the honors with his crisply grilled hamburger steak on two slices of thick homemade toast, topped with a raw onion, proudly served at the 1904 St. Louis World Fair. But no one used an actual bun until 1915-16, when Wichita, Kansas grill cook Walter Anderson flattened the competition with his novel concept: making traditional hamburger steaks into thinner, under 3-inch square-shaped patties that could be cooked quickly, and serving them on individual white buns. He sold the small, square burgers for a nickel each, encouraging customers to “buy ‘em by the sack,” according to Hamburgers: A Cultural History. If these sound familiar, they should—a few years later the ever resourceful Anderson partnered with Billy Ingram to found a little restaurant called White Castle, still making their iconic burgers, and sparking a real competition among gourmet chefs to create ever more sophisticated sliders (and sell them for way more than 5 cents each!).
Bun Basics. According to Meathead, Huffington Post food blogger on all things beef, hamburger buns must meet some basic criteria to make it onto the hamburger menu: won't dull the flavor of the beef, large enough to envelop the patty, allows the patty to take center stage, firm enough to hold together when wetness attacks it, soft enough that you don't have to bite down too hard and squeeze out the juices, and squishy enough to form fit around its payload so things don't fall out. His recommendations include Kaiser rolls (added flavor), onion rolls, brioche rolls (buttery), challah rolls (eggy), French bread roll (crusty), and pretzel rolls (salty and sturdy). The best bun ever, asserts Meathead, is at Zingerman's Roadhouse in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where James Beard Award-winning Chef Alex Young takes a house-made onion roll and loads the top half with generous amounts of clarified butter, and deeply toasts it on a medium hot grill. A recent taste test by The Food Lab of commercially available buns confirmed the characteristics of the ideal hamburger partner: soft, squishy and tender, with a tight but soft crumb and a distinct sweetness; one that holds up nicely to the burger's juices, but should never be tough or cottony. Chefs Line Buns to the rescue!
Killer Buns. Finally, a quick look at an unusual fad that had nutritionists seething unhealthily a few years back—the “Luther Burger,” a bacon cheeseburger served on a Krispy Kreme donut as the bun, purported to be a favorite snack of the late R&B singer Luther Vandross, according to NPR. In her pre-enlightened days, Paula Deen served up a similar dish, now called one of her most outrageous recipes: a “Lady's Brunch” hamburger topped with fried egg and bacon, and two glazed yeast doughnuts as buns.
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