I use this Joshua Weissman recipe, Japanese techniques and family bread making know how to make the tastiest, lightest burger buns on the planet.

The secret to this recipe is the incorporation of ‘Tangzhong’ (we will making our own below) into the bread dough that gives the bread a fluffy texture.

Helpful tips:

• Don’t use measuring cups for the flour. I have been taught by my partner’s mum that when making bread, to always weigh it out and to do it carefully. No guessing 🙂
• If you want initial success try and follow the recipe exactly as it is written, don’t add extras. The first time I made these buns they were super sticky but that is ok. Leave them sticky and keep to the cooking times below for sure fire success!!

Ingredients

Tangzhong:

• 20g bread flour
• 2 tablespoons (27g) water
• 4 tablespoons (60g) whole milk  (not hi-lo etc)

Dough:

• 1/2 cup(120g) whole milk @ 30c – I have got this to about 35 degree’s and still ok. Heat only when at the part of the recipe where it asks for it
• 1 tablespoons (9g) instant yeast
• 320g Bread flour
• 1 teaspoon (7g) fine sea salt
• 2.5 tablespoons (35g) granulated sugar
• 1 whole egg
• 1 egg yolk – Save the egg white and make Meringues (something like “1 egg meringue”)
• 3 tablespoons (42g) unsalted butter, softened

Egg wash:

• 1 whole egg
• splash of whole milk

 Step by Step to make the bun’s

Mix the ingredients of the tangzhong. Cook for about 30 seconds on a medium heat (gas cooktop, electric may be different timing). But it should look like porridge. Once its ready, take it out of the saucepan and re-use the sauce pan for the next step.

Using the same pot, heat the milk till it gets to about ~30-35 degree’s. Once it gets to the temperature, remove from heat and add the 9 grams of yeast. Mix together, set a 10 minute timer and set the pan aside.

 

In the mixing bowl, put the flour, sugar and salt in and combine using a spatula. Put the dough hook on. Put it on a low-medium speed. My Kenwood mixer was set to “2”. Slowly add the tengzhong, milk/yeast and the 1x egg and 1x egg yolk. Move to a “3” or “4” speed on the mixer to a medium speed. Mix until its combined.

 SLOWLY add the butter, roughly a 1/3 of it at a time. Keep the mixer going till its well combined and looks smooth.

 

Wet a clean tea towel (so that its damp) and find a warm place for it to sit for the next 1 to 1.5 hours till its doubled in size. But don’t put it in direct sunlight

 Push the mix down and lay it onto a table. Make 6 rolls from the mix.

It will be very sticky, so it will take patience here to get them into a roll shape. It should equate to ~110 grams a roll.

Put them about an inch or so apart, as they rise again, potentially joining together.

Once your happy with the rolls, cover the tray with something like a large baking dish, and move it to warm spot so that they can rise. This will take another 1-1.5 hours

Put the oven on 190 degrees Celsius, about 10 minutes before your bread is finished rising.

Get the egg wash ready and once the rolls are finished rising, brush the entire top of them with the egg wash.

Cook for ~15 minutes or until golden brown.

Serving

I like to make my burger patties out of a special mince from Perth’s very own Gussface Grillah. His mince is fantastic. See https://www.facebook.com/gusfacegrillah/

Roll the gussface mince into 125 gram balls. cook them and assemble your burger how you like it.

Enjoy!!!

Josh

Here is some more from Josh and other baked goodies: