Brioche as a burger/hot dog bun...

[denty632]

So having watched Restaurant Man and now Michelle Roux Jnr on BBC2, both used a brioche roll as either a burger bun or a hot dog bun.

We had a burger night recently, wheels soft rolls V's brioche rolls.... Wheels won hands down for burgers. All enjoyed the brioche rolls but not for burgers. I tried one, far too rich.

So.... Thoughts.

[onewheeler]

Yes, but don't forget that saucisson brioché is a speciality of France. It's good and worth trying, but a bit rich to my taste too.

Martin/

[wheels]

I wondered what a burger would be like in a 'pretzel' bun.



It's got promise, but needs work 'cos the bun was a little dry and didn't hold together very well.

Phil

[Wunderdave]

^^^ needs more mayonnaise

#america

Bun looks good. Maybe if you knead it more for more gluten development it will hold up better.

[wheels]

Umm... I don't know why these were crumbly, the pretzels that I make with the same mix aren't. I'll give them another go in the summer.

Phil

[Ruralidle]

I find my brioche buns too sweet for burgers. Something a little less assertive brings out the burger and dressing flavours - particularly the essential smoked bacon and cheese toppings. Not tried pretzel buns yet but it does seem to be something being offered in some "gourmet" burger joints. What pretzel recipe (especially the pre-baking bath) do you use Phil?

[wheels]

My recipe is:

500gm flour
285gm water
1 teasp salt
20g oil or softened butter
1 packet 'instant' yeast
1 egg yolk for glaze
Coarse sea salt for topping
Also
A pan of boiling water with 2 tablespoons of bicarbonate of soda to each 500mls water.

Make a dough with the first five ingredients. Leave to rise until doubled in size. Put the bicarb' into the pan of boiling water and preheat oven to 200°C. Knock the dough back and cut into 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a rope shape about 20" (500mm) long. Shape into a pretzel and boil gently in the water for 30 seconds, then drain. Mix the egg yolk with a little water and brush the pretzel with it, then sprinkle with coarse grain salt. Bake in the oven until brown, about 10 - 12 minutes.

I recently saw a TV programme in which they visited an authentic German pretzel maker. They left the dough to ferment overnight to achieve a chewy texture.

I'll try this next time, although we've always been happy with the texture of the pretzels; it was just the buns that weren't so good. It may just have been a one-off; I've not been doing much as I'm still dieting, so experimentation's a bit 'on the back boiler'.

Phil

[Ruralidle]

A fairly standard - if somewhat low hydration - dough, then. The bicarb and egg glaze looks like it does the trick. The traditional bath is made of lye - sodium hydroxide - but that is a bit dangerous, you need goggles and gloves to use it .

I hope the diet goes well and will keep a watch out for when you are on the cooking and baking "train" again.

[wheels]

Yep, it's a low hydration dough; is that not he norm for pretzels?

I agree that the egg's a waste of time. I don't use it anymore.

I'll leave lye to others but I won't put a recipe online that uses it as people get confused. Anyone that's published a recipe will know this. You make something Idiot-proof, and the World creates a better idiot!

Phil

[Ruralidle]

I'm still not a better idiot , despite you and everyone else on this forum trying to educate me

[denty632]

Tried your recipe last night Phil, I think I need to roll the thinner, they looked a bit like dog turds baked in the oven!

Either way, we were having pizzas as well so by the ime I came out with the freshly baked pizzas they had all but gone, so they can't have been too bad!!

Thanks, once again for the recipe.

S

[wheels]

I'm still not a better idiot , despite you and everyone else on this forum trying to educate me

Apologies, it wasn't meant to read, as it obviously did?

The recipes I can find online all seem to have a similar hydration. I think that the boiling process would be difficult with a higher hydration dough.

Unfortunately, I can't remember which programme I saw the people making pretzels on but recall that they bulk fermented the dough overnight. They said that this gave it a nice chewy texture.

Of course, they boiled it in Lye - but that's a step too far for me as I've already said. It'd be just my luck to fall in!

Phil

[Ruralidle]

Apologies, it wasn't meant to read, as it obviously did?

Phil, apologies are not required. I learn what I need to get by but still marvel at the way that you, and others, can calculate ppm etc to determine if a cure is within the regs. Similarly, I learn what I need to so that my bread comes out as I wish - but I don't get involved in masses of complication.

I always appreciate you knowledge and advice and I took absolutely no offence.

[wheels]

Phil

[jenny_haddow]

I saw brioche burger buns in Aldi today and thought of this thread. I didn't buy any, but they looked very nice. A pack of four around the £1.20ish mark I think.

Jen