BUNdamental Checkpoints for Quality Hamburger Buns

In our mind, a hamburger’s claim to fame has always been the bun. There are many desirable characteristics for producing traditional hamburger buns: the bun should be round, averaging 3.5 x 5 inches in diameter, have a reddish or nutty brown crust color with no white spots on the bottom, and have no blisters on the top crust. But brush all those physical attributes aside, because what really makes a quality hamburger bun is found in the baking science knowledge you need from AIB’s Hamburger Buns Online. That’s where product troubleshooting tips really happen.

Hamburger Buns Online is a specialized introduction to the unique product characteristics of hamburger and hot dog buns. Like all AIB’s online baking courses, you'll be transported from your production facility into a learning environment. This course covers:

• Formulations
• Product characteristics
• Processing conditions

Participants will experience an instructional unit on formulation of bun dough ingredients including the function of flour, water, yeast, salt, sugars, fat or oil, preservatives, and dough additives such as enzymes. The next lessons discuss the make-up process on automated lines and share practical knowledge on proper dividing and moulding of dough pieces. It’s easier than ever to learn about specialized equipment that is commonly used in bun production to maintain a consistent, uniform shape.

The online course features other tips in hamburger bun production such as defects that may occur from make-up and panning. Defects can also occur in proofing due to uneven heat, high humidity or condensation, under, and over-proofing. Check out a webpage graphic from the course that explains six examples of defects:

There’s always something satisfying about seeing the last lessons of a course or in the case of Hamburger Buns Online, lessons on seeding. The purpose of seeding is to add seeds or other toppings to the proofed dough prior to baking. This is done with a seeder that first mists the surface of the dough with water for better adhesion and then spreads the seeds on top.

In Hamburger Buns Online, we cover common issues that occur when the buns bake. If the crust color is too light, the crumb has too high moisture, or the bun has a weak structure, the buns may have been under-baked. If the crust color is dark, thick, and firm or has excessive crumbs, then it’s probably been over-baked. These are all external characteristics of an undesirable finished product. In the course, you will realize proper techniques from raw ingredients to finished product.

With three in five (60 percent) consumers surveyed for Mintel’s The State of the Burger US 2016 Report saying that they love burgers, there’s no denying their popularity. Burgers and hamburger buns remain a constant of the modern American diet. This trend is only expected to rise with millennials becoming the new buyer of food and demanding a premium product with a premium burger bun so gaining expertise now is BUNdamental.

* Mintel surveyed 1,767 US adults who ordered a burger from a restaurant in the three months preceding January 2016.