Burger Buns

Hamburgers are a very simple idea, and very easy to prepare. Fast food chains made billions out of them. Good and fresh ingredients are a good starting point to make a good hamburger, your cooking skills can dramatically improve the final result, but too many times the buns used to build the stack are of poor quality.

This recipe will help you going the extra-mile towards the perfect burger.

​Difficulty level:
Cooking Time:	​65 minutes
Oven Temperature:	​30 minutes 50˚C - 35 minutes 190˚C
​Cooking Method:	​Static Oven, With Water

This is recipe is a good starting point to work with doughs containing eggs, sugar and butter. Keep an eye at the dough temperature while kneading, if it goes over 28˚C stop the mixer and let the dough rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Ingredients for about 8 buns:

Using Sourdough Starter 300g Manitoba Flour (W370, PL 0,5/0,6) 300g Strong White Flour (W300, P/L 0,5/0,6) 3g Diastatic Malt 300g Milk (3,5% fat) 18g salt 150g Sourdough Starter 130g Butter 35g Cane Sugar 60g Egg (1 Large Egg) Sesame or Poppy Seeds.

​Using Dry Yeast 360g Manitoba Flour (W370, PL 0,5/0,6) 360g Strong White Flour (W300, PL 0,5/0,6) 3g Diastatic Malt 330g Milk (3,5% fat) 18g salt 12g Dried Yeast 130g Butter 35g Cane Sugar 60g Egg (1 Large Egg) Sesame or Poppy Seeds.

Steps:

1. In the mixing bowl mix the yeast with the milk.

2. Add the sifted flours and start kneading. If you use a stand mixer attach the dough hook and knead at speed 2 for about 5 minutes.

3. Put the egg in a small bowl, beat it with a fork and put 10g aside.

4. Mix the sugar with the remaining egg.

5. Add egg and sugar mixture to the dough 2 table spoons at time and knead until the mixture has been completely absorbed and the dough stays on the hook. Do not rush this phase.

6. Add the softened butter 20g at the time and knead until it has been completely absorbed and the dough stays on the hook. Do not rush even this phase.

7. Add the salt and knead until the dough stays on the hook and do not stick on the mixer bowl.

8. Remove the dough round it and place it in a bowl to rise in a dry place at 27˚C until it doubles its volume.

9. Divide the dough into 8 pieces of about 150 g each.

10. Stretch each to give an elongated shape and roll the dough on itself. Repeat the procedure 3 times the start rounding the doughs.

11. Leave the doughs to leaven a second time for about 5 or 6 hours at 27˚C on the baking tray (if you are using dried yeast leave it for about 1 or 2 hours at room temperature (22˚C).

12. Add to the egg you set aside 30g of water and mix.

13. Place the buns in the cold oven and switch it on to 50°C and leave the dough ripen for 30 minutes.

14. After 30 minutes Increase the temperature to 190°C and bake the buns for 30 minutes (including heating).

15. Brush the buns with the egg and water mix. Sprinkle the seeds (if you're using seeds) and bake for other 5 minutes. For better results brush and add the seeds on one bun at the time, so that the heat will not cook the egg and the seeds will attach to the surface.

The butter stops the creation of the gluten, and provides the texture to the bread. To get excellent results the quality of the butter is critical. Try different butters, made some searches. As a start look for French butter at the supermarket.