Yep, that's about all there is to it. Scale the dough for the buns to about 2-1/2 ounces for small buns (it will bake to around 2-ounces which is equal to 2 servings of bread) and go up from there for larger ones. If you've never made burger buns before, oil your hands and form the 2-1/2 ounce piece of dough into a nice ball - make sure there aren't any air bubbles. Pat the dough flat - while still in your hands - to about 1/2-inch thick. As a general rule-of-thumb, the dough is about 1/3 of the finished size of the bun. Allow it to double in size during the final proof - that's about 2/3 of the finished size. The oven spring (the amount the dough continues rising in the oven) represents the last 1/3 of the finished size. If you want to make the dough into hot dog buns, roll the dough into a cylinder just a little larger than the meat you are using. Scale the first one so you'll know how much dough to use and all the rest of them will be the same size. Which makes them not only look good, but they will bake in the same amount of time and all be done at the same time. -Grainlady

Liz, if you don't have enough egg rings, can you use things like tuna cans with the tops and bottoms cut out? The newer cans have those weird bottoms that can't be cut out, but some of the "store" brands still have them. I'm afraid if you cook them on a sheet, you're going to have flatbreads. Sigh. That said I did make Elery some bagels which got boiled first and then baked and they held their shape. So, if your package has bagel directions, maybe that would work. The texture of the gluten free bagels were more like a bun anyway. Annie

I mill my own flour and make a 100% whole wheat bread recipe for hamburger and hot dog buns on a regular basis. I also use the same recipe for high-rising loaves of bread. The loaves or buns are just as light and fluffy as white bread because I use the SPONGE METHOD for making dough, instead of the much faster direct dough method - where all the ingredients are mixed together. An ingredient important in all bakers' yeast breads made with 100% whole wheat flour, or additions of wheat germ as an ingredient in the bread, that most people don't know about is ascorbic acid. There is a substance in wheat germ (which is a part of 100% whole wheat flour) called Glutathione which breaks down the gluten (which equals squatty short loaves). By adding ascorbic adic to your dough you will help to counteract the negative effects of Glutathione. Ascorbic acid will repair gluten bonds and will help sustain the leavening of the bread during baking. It also promotes yeast growth in the acidic atmosphere in which yeast grow best (1/8 t. ascorbic acid per loaf). (Note: Do not add ascorbic acid to naturally-leavened breads - aka sourdough - because it's naturally acidic and the ascorbic acid is unnecessary.) I let the sponge rest for at least 2-1/2-hours and up to 12-hours - covered in the bread machine or covered in a bowl if making it by hand. This allows the gluten in the flour to hydrate and the bran to soften. Bran in whole wheat flour can actually cut the gluten strands during kneading. It makes a big difference in texture, taste, and rise when working with 100% whole wheat flour if you use a sponge method and the addition of ascorbic acid powder. You don't say if the recipe was 100% whole wheat or a light wheat recipe (includes some unbleached/bleached all-purpose or bread flour). If you use a high-protein whole wheat flour, additional vital wheat gluten is entirely unnecessary!!! If you use whole wheat flour in combination with commercial bleached/unbleached all-purpose or bread flour, it's unnecessary because there's more than enough gluten in the white flour. If, by chance, the whole wheat flour you use was specifically for PASTRY, it is milled from low-protein soft wheat and not appropritate for making yeast breads. Additions of vital wheat gluten (where there is NOT a high-percentage of low-gluten or non-gluten flour) usually contributes to tough bread, not necessarily the rise of the bread. "Hocky Pucks" or "Bricks" are also a sign of not enough moisture in your breads - among the other things already mentioned. If you don't do a good job mixing the dough and developing the gluten while mixing and you toss out a shaggy lump of dough, then you didn't do the mixing slowly enough, or enough strokes used to slowly add the flour to the liquid. If you don't do a good job of kneading and add too much flour during kneading, then you chance making a dry dough which often makes "pucks". With bread dough, it's best to err on the side of a wet dough. Dry dough always equals a "brick" or "puck". You'll find my recipe at the link below. Post #2 in the thread. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: sponge method help please

I've never had good luck freezing cheap hamburger or hot dog buns. Bread, yes, but not for long term. I freeze bagels. Lately I use a good bagel for a burger bun. With bread, as with most anything, remove as much air as possible. A second wrap helps. Thawing, I generally leave it open a bit so the excess moisture can get out or else it goes mushy. Turn it while thawing. I generally switch bags when thawing it to put it into a dry bag. That helps a lot. However, if making a burger, put the bun in and toast it. That will freshen it up and toast it at the same time. Or just steam it on the burger. Not as good as toasted but workable.