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The Kitchen Table

Freezing hamburger buns?

13 years ago

I have a really hard time freezing and then thawing hamburger buns - when I thaw them they are usually hard and dried out. What am I doing wrong?

I wish the bun people would sell packages of 4 instead of 8.

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Comments (14)

wanda_va
13 years ago
I always keep buns in the freezer for times when I don't want to go to the store. I keep them frozen until I'm ready to use them...wrap them in aluminum foil and put them in the oven until they are thawed and warm. That keeps them from getting hard and dried out.
iowagirl2006
13 years ago
Don't just freeze them in the package they came in. I put mine in a freezer ziplock bag with as much air removed as possible. I leave them in the original bag, and put that in the freezer bag.

Do you have a frost free freezer? That will dry them out, as the freezer constantly thaws (slightly) and re-freezes to keep the frost out - that is not good for long term storage. Particularly hard on breads.
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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
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I got my pan from King Arthur Flour, but I don't think they carry the pan anymore. The pan has 12 shallow indentions (3-inches across) that are perfect for mini-burger or sandwich buns. The pan is similar to a muffin-top pan - a pan that forms only the tops of muffins - and there are probably small muffin-top pans available. I don't know of a source for the smaller sized pans, possibly Chicago Metallic has them. I use the large muffin-top pans (4-inches) for forming regular-sized burger buns. The good news, you can make mini burger buns on a cookie sheet without a special pan. Use approx. 2 to 2.5 oz. of dough (I weigh the dough on a kitchen scale so I get equal sizes). Make sure the dough has all the air bubbles removed and pat the ball of dough to about 1/2-inch thick. I'm including the link to the recipe for [Moomie's] Beautiful Burger Buns found at King Arthur. The recipe includes some instructions that may be helpful if you've never made burger buns before. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Beautiful Burger Buns
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I am no longer a bun virgin! You folks inspired me to try them. I have a bread machine that I used to use many many years ago, back when I had a metabolism. LOL All these posts about yeasts and how forgiving dough is made me brave. I figured I would give it a shot with the recipe in this thread. I used the bread machine to mix the dough. I confess that I never even thought about using the dough cycle, always baked the bread in the machine. I poured the ingredients in, walked away for 1:30 came back and dumped it on the counter and made cute little balls (thanks for the video link). Came back 1 hour later and baked these delicious rolls! Oh yeah, my yeast expired in May, I used it anyway. No problem. We are such city slickers and my Mom and her Mother were not cooks. So the most amusing part of making these rolls is my Mom saying "Wow you can do that? Make hamburger buns at home?" She was pretty funny. After they were done she kept touching them saying "I'll be darned, aren't they beautiful?" Here they are after 5 minutes of hands on. The results How easy was that? I think I'll leave the bread machine out. Thanks for all the encouragement. A special thanks goes to Ann T and Annie for being so encouraging to us novices about bread baking. And Maureen thank you for the recipe. I think next time I will weigh the little balls to get them the same size. Does anyone know how much hamburger sized buns should weigh?
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Merry Christmas, Tami, to you and your sweet husband. I'll watch for those pictures, I'll bet they come out great. Annie
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Momof6
13 years ago
When I went to the thrifty bread store a while back looking for sliders the lady who worked there told me of a tip her grandmother taught her...freeze the bread in the pkg.upside down...then right side up when thawing out the bread...tried it and it worked for me...something bout the moisture redistributes itself...hope it works for you if you try it...Mary
frazoo
13 years ago
I freeze the buns or bread in the package and also in the shoppiing bag. I heard it's best to double wrap breads. When I thaw breads, I put a paper towel into the bottom of the package. If a loaf, I fold the paper towel in half and feed it into the bag. If buns, I just feed the paper towel into the bag. These two hints have worked for me for a long time and the breads are never dry or hard.
YogaLady1948
13 years ago
I think someone mentioned on here that they use English muffins for hamburgers, because they are easier to freeze and thaw. I told my DH this and we are going to try it next time we do burgers;) Now I want to try Momof6's idea also;)
enjoyingspring
13 years ago
I wish they would sell them in packages of 4 too.
kathyg_in_mi
13 years ago
I'll vote for 4 buns in a package!
I love when we are in Florida and I can by a half loaf of bread at Publix. Wish more stores would do that.
Kathy G in MI
chisue
13 years ago
I don't have a separate freezer -- just one side of the fridge/freezer, which has a 'defrost' cycle. I don't even try to freeze bread products that are not relatively 'dense'.

I've never found a hamburger bun I couldn't live without; never serve ground beef in a bun. DH likes an occasional hot dog -- in a bun. I don't. I just buy a single bun for him from the bakery section of the grocery.

Can you freeze Costco's chocolate chip cookies? They are stale before we've eaten half a box of them.
joyfulguy
13 years ago
The air-tighter the package, and the least air in it, the better ... then put a banana peel, with an impervious piece between, in with cookies, brown sugar, etc. for a day or so.

o j
User
13 years ago
Have you ever tried using a Baked Potato bag? I made one for my baked potatoes an also use it for thawing, it works great with bread.

Well, wrap your HB buns in a paper towel, put it in the potato bag and microwave about 20-30 seconds. Perfect thawed rolls, or bread.

Here is a link that might be useful: make a baked potato bag
dex215
13 years ago
Chisel, you certainly can freeze Costco cookies. I freeze them and eat them right from the freezer! Believe it or not, they're even better that way.
cynic
13 years ago
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.
joyfulguy
13 years ago
My story about getting the air out was during the storage phase ... but have some air space when you introduce the banana peel for a half day to a day, usually, just prior to using.

o j
chisue
13 years ago
dex215 -- You're just in time! I have a new box of the three varieties of cookies from Costco. I'll try putting the whole box in the freezer, then 'take one as needed' (like the instructions on one of my presriptions).

I always cut up their Rosemary Olive Oil bread for the freezer. I halve the four 'ends' to use as dinner rolls and toast the middle slices.

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