Go to the Article: Burger Buns
I asked a brewer for amylase and they asked if I wanted alpha or beta. He said one was better for fermentation than the other.
Does this correlate with bread?
With bread you would want alpha-amylase.
There are two different forms of Amylase. A powdered and a liquid one which looks like molasses. Which should I use for the Buns or would it work with both?
Is it also possible to use diastatic Malt Powder instead of Amylase?
I have a hard time understanding the rationale of the high heat and oven spring in baked goods. High heat would of course create some more steam, but how can water turning to steam be an important effect, as only a really thin outer layer gets even nearly hot enough until crumb sets? Bubbles of CO2 or air already present would increase in size as they heat up, but I would be surprised if this effect is large for temperatures too low for the crumb to set. I would suspect then, that yeast then, must be most important.
The yeast is at it's most active at some temperature above room temperature, and dies before the product is done. If the purpose is to maximize yeast activity (or the integral of activity over time), one should put the dough in a luke warm oven and slowly heat it until the whole dough is at the yeast activity-maximizing temperature. High heat gives a steep heat gradient and quickly kills of yeast near the surface, while starting slow would give more time in the interval from room temperature til the temperature that kills the yeast. Even worse, a hot oven rapidly create a hard outer layer of crust and set crumb that makes it hard for the yeast in the center to do it's job once it gets hot enough. Slashing og a humid oven alleviates this, but it remains a problem.
Perhaps other considerations than maximizing gas-production can explain. Maybe the temperature in the dough must rise quickly in order for it to set before it collapses on itself, or maybe it's just about keeping the shape or not drying it out? In the example above, the bun can collapse when cooling, but this wouldn't happen with a crusty bread, where high heat is also said to maximize oven spring.
This article was great and the visualization even better. I would really love some graphics with cross sections of buns or breads of various stages of cooking, showing the temperatures of different layers, the amount of liquid water turned to steam and CO2 produced by yeast at each of those, maybe something about how large a bubble will be if some amount of CO2 is produced at that point (since I guess that will depend on whether outside layers have set).
A quick question if anyone may please, i read in serious eats that shake shack uses potato rolls for their buns. The food network has a recipe. Unfortunately where i live i cant buy the brand shake shack allegedly uses. Does anyone have an opinion as to whether the potato roll is a worthy hamburger bun contender to the regular brioche bun ? Thanks
I bought alpha amylase. but your brioche burger recipe for 700 g flour 5 g of amylase is used. In my product instructions recommend the use of 1 g to 25 kg flour. Is that possible to use? What should I do?
I have also faced the same dilemma and would like to know what to do. In my case I bought bread improver instead of Amylase. Do they both function similarly?
Also, in my case 1gm per kg of flour is required. What should be done? Furthermore, I would like to know that if I exceed the limit of 1gm per kg what effect would that have on the bread/buns?
I will try the recipe, sans the amylase (we do not have that here). But will someone kindly tell me how much of an impact it has on the output?
If you need to have a smaller amount of the amylase, the easiest way is to use a buffer. Measure 1 gram of the amylase, add that to 24 grams of flour and mix thoroughly. then, put that away for future use. each time you need the 1:25 ratio use 1 gram of the amylase flour combination and your proportions should be correct. I will defer to the ChefSteps team as to whether the long term storage of the amylase in a flour buffer might be a bad thing for later use, but this should give you the ration you need for that tiny amount of your enzyme.
Apples and oranges, and people will have their own preferences.
You'll read a lot of online "burger snobs" claiming that a burger should never be served on a brioche bun. But of course if you look at all the restaurants out there that are now serving high-end burgers for $20, most of them use a house-made brioche bun (case in point, the legendary bar burger at Craigie on Main in Boston, one of the best burgers in the US).
Shake Shack uses a Martin's Potato Roll, which has become very trendy over the past couple of years ( https://www.eater.com/2017/3/1/14751564/martins-potato-rolls-burger-bun ). Martin's is a family run operation that has been around for decades in the Philly area. It's funny how people can suddenly jump on something that's been around forever! I lived in the Philly area for a number of years, and it's definitely the only way to serve a burger there.
They also produce a Big Marty's Sesame Roll, which I prefer because it is bigger so can fit a 1/2 lbs burger, and the sesame seeds provide an interesting texture contrast. Otherwise they are the same. A very good burger bun, and I am torn between brioche and Big Marty's. A good problem to have lol.
I'm able to get Martin's at Market Basket in the Boston area. I think Martin's have gone more national thanks to their recent fame, so check out the grocery stores in your area and you might be able to find them, assuming you are in the US. Actually, I read somewhere about a restaurant in Europe that is importing them too lol.
what other substitutes are there for Martin's Famous Potato Sandwich Buns that are popular for burgers??
i made the brioche and are great. everything went well without the amylase. but when added the burger after a a few minutes while eating, the buns became very very soft and almost crumbled because of the burger liquids. is there any way to make the bun firmer so that it will "keep up" with the burger? thanks
Hi, you can toast the buns before, then they will not absorb as much moisture from the sauces
I make burger buns, over all everything is fine but facing burger upper skin peel off problem when it becomes cool
Could you tell me if adding some lecithin or xanthan could improve the final texture? What it does ? How much ? T
Is there a way to make a perfect, tender, awesome burger buns that not including dairy ingredients ? (No I’m not vegan... eggs are great 😎)
You can sub water for milk any day of the week for any recipe. You can also employ the Tang Zhong method or Pre-Gelatinized Flour method(one in the same).
Lecithin will improve elasticity and resist staling when added. You can add up to 2% lecithin. Xanthan will help with hydration and up to 1% will be substantial. Calcium propionate and Ascorbic acid are also good dough conditioners. These additives are really only good if packaging or wanting to keep for longer than 3-4 days otherwise fresh baked bread is always best. The Tang Zhong(PGF) method will also improve shelf life without any additives.
Thank you for your answer so all this additive doesn’t have any impact on the texture ? Could you tell me how to use the tang Zhong method with this recipe ? Thank you very much
Correct. Fresh baked bread is always best and additives will improve texture after a day or two mimicking fresh baked bread. Day old bread can be refreshed/toasted to bring it back to life. For PGF on the Burger buns recipe you will add 91 grams of milk to make the hydration 85%. Take 5% of the flour, which is 35 grams and cook into a roux with 175 grams of the milk. Cool this roux and add to Step 1of the mixing with the eggs and remaining milk. This method will keep the buns soft for up to a week.
