Sourdough Hamburger Buns (optional fresh milled flour)

I need sourdough hamburger buns because we eat hamburgers every Sunday after church.  In my Mom’s generation, her Sunday lunch consisted of a roast beef dinner with mashed potatoes, gravy, and peas out of the can.  My Grandma enjoyed making Salisbury steak with a few side dishes.  In my Great Grandma’s generation, she would go to the backyard on Saturday to decide which one of the wandering chickens would be dinner on Sunday.

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Jump to Recipe w/ Fresh Milled Flour

My Mom tells the story about being at her Grandma’s house on Saturday.  After Grandma would butcher the chicken, my Mom would play with the chicken feet.  She says that if you pulled the tendons the chicken toes would contract.  Apparently, it was fun to chase younger siblings in the backyard trying to grab them with a chicken foot.  I guess Legos weren’t invented yet.

Why You Should Make Sourdough Hamburger Buns

• They are YUMMY compared to blah store-bought buns.
• They are fermented … so they are healthier and easier to digest.
• You can use them for all sorts of things. Hamburgers need to remember that they should share their rolls with BBQ, sloppy joes, cold cuts, etc.
• They are easy to make.
• You can make the size you need.  For example, we make smash burgers so we need our rolls to be a little bigger. Remember when sliders were all the rage?
• They freeze well.  You can make a big batch and freeze them.
• These have a great consistency (fluffy with just enough chew) and will hold up to a hamburger with all the fixings. They won’t fall apart.

Step 1: Night Before Making Sourdough Hamburger Buns

Every sourdough adventure begins with a starter, affectionately known as the yeast pet. This bubbly, temperamental concoction needs feeding, attention, and, dare I say, love.  After you encourage and love it, you will want to wake up your yeast pet by feeding it.  Aren’t we all similar to sourdough … we wake up if we are fed.

In a bowl … mix:

• 50 grams of sourdough starter
• 100 grams of water
• 125 grams of flour

Cover your shaggy mess with a breathable material (like a tea towel, cheesecloth, cloth napkin, etc.).  I like to cover my mixture to prohibit fruit flies from thinking it is a neighborhood swimming pool.

Let this mixture sit on your counter overnight. I make this right before I go to bed and use it when I get up in the morning.  I find that this works very well.  Your levain is going to eat and party all night long while you sleep.

Fancy bakers call this concoction a levain.  It is a little baby sourdough from your big mother sourdough. I just thought I would mention that in case you need to impress your mother-in-law.

Step 2: Next Morning – Sourdough Hamburger Buns

You will notice your levain mixture has doubled or even tripled in size. This is a good thing.

Pro Tip:  Before proceeding, have a chat with your starter. Something along the lines of, “Listen, we’re in this together. If you could just do your thing and rise, that’d be great. No pressure.”

In your mixing bowl – add the following:

1. Levain … all of it
2. 2 Eggs
3. Honey (2 tablespoons) … because buns like to have fun
4. Olive Oil (3 tablespoons or 38 grams)
5. Sour Cream (1 cup or 220 grams)
6. Water (1½ cups or 350 grams)
7. Salt (1 tablespoon) … for flavor, obviously
8. Bread Flour (4-5 cups or 480-600 grams) … below are instructions for the option of using fresh milled flour

Mix together all of these ingredients, except for the flour.

Don’t dump all of the flour in at once.  Start with half the flour and gradually add more until the dough is very sticky.  If you have the luxury of extra time, let the dough hydrate for 10-30 minutes.  You will be surprised that you might not need to add more flour. Now, if it is too sticky, then add more flour a little bit at a time.

If you don’t have extra time, then keep adding flour until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.  If you touch the dough, it shouldn’t be a wet goopy mess on your finger.  The dough should have some structure and a nice pull to it. Knead it until it is a smooth elastic dough.  Kneading dough is like giving it a motivational pep talk. You’re encouraging it to get strong and stretchy, but without pushing too hard, or it might rebel.

Optional: Fresh Milled Flour for your Sourdough Hamburger Buns

Feel free to skip to the next section if you are not using fresh milled flour.  If you would like to learn more about making fresh nutrient-dense flour at home, check out these posts.

If you are using freshly milled flour, the following wheat berries are great options:  hard white, hard red, spelt, einkorn, etc. (#ad)  I usually use a mixture of wheat berries.  Hard red tends to give it a nutty flavor.  The hard white and spelt are lighter and milder in flavor.  Einkorn has more nutrients than modern wheat, is easier to digest, and is considered an ancient grain.

You will want to knead the dough longer and also let it hydrate if you are using fresh milled flour.  Here is what that looks like:

• At the point the recipe calls for you to add the flour … add some of the flour. Stop adding flour when the dough is wet and tacky (fresh milled flour takes longer to hydrate … don’t add too much flour at this point).
• Knead for 8 minutes.
• Let the dough rest for 10-20 minutes.
• Gradually add flour to make the dough the proper consistency (gently pulling away from the sides of the bowl and/or not sticking to your hands too much).
• Knead for 8 more minutes. (Freshly milled flour must be kneaded longer for proper gluten development.)
• Continue with the recipe as written.

Step 3: Stretch 1, 2, 3

Now comes the part that makes you feel like a professional.  You get to stretch and fold the dough.

What are stretches and folds?  They are the process that creates a sturdy gluten structure and strengthens your bread dough.  The technique is to pull a piece of the dough into the sky … just before the dough starts to break … you bring it across the dough and tuck it under the opposite side of the dough ball.  Continue going around the dough ball until it gets tough to pull it up into the sky. You will want to get at least 4 stretches. For the 4 stretches, I think about doing the north, east, south, and west sides of the dough ball.

Next, you will let the dough rest for 15 to 60 minutes (pick your adventure).  Then you will repeat the pulling up into the sky and letting it rest two to three more times (for a total of 3-4 stretches and folds).

If you need an example of how to stretch and fold, then check out this video.  This is my amazing daughter making a loaf of bread.  If you go to 7 minutes and 45 seconds, she is demonstrating how to stretch and fold sourdough bread.  You might want to subscribe to her channel!

Step 4: Rise and Shine – You cute little sourdough hamburger buns!

Once the stretches and folds are complete … the waiting game begins.  It’s time to let the dough rise.  You will place your dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover it, and let it rise.

Quick Option:  Let the dough hang out on your counter until it puffs up.  You don’t have to wait until it is fully doubled in size (although that is the goal).  How long will it take for the dough to puff up?  This all depends on your house’s temperature and your sourdough starter’s activity level.  Is your house so cold that even the ice cubes are wearing sweaters?  Or is your house so hot that you could fry an egg on your couch?  Does your sourdough starter have less energy than a sloth on Monday morning?  Or does your sourdough starter have more energy than a kindergartener after a double espresso?  A guess is that it will take 3-8 hours??? Sourdough is like a toddler at bedtime – it has its own schedule and does not care about yours.

Long Option:  If you have extra time and want the sourdough to ferment, taste extra tangy, and be easier to digest … after you complete your stretches and folds … cover the dough and put it in the frig overnight.  The next morning (or in a few days) take it out of the frig and let it warm up on your countertop. If it didn’t double in size overnight in the frig, then let it finish doubling in size on your countertop.

Step 5: Shape Your Buns (only talking about the dough)

What are you using these rolls for?  If they are for big smash burgers, then you will want each bun to weigh about 150 grams. Are these for breakfast sandwiches?  You will want each bun to weigh 120 grams.  Bonus:  You can use this same recipe for hot dog rolls too … those weigh 110 grams each.

By the way, have you ever had a taylor ham (or pork roll – depending on where you live in Jersey), egg, cheese, salt, pepper, and ketchup breakfast sandwich?  It’s a New Jersey thing … and it’s delicious!  I thank my son-in-law for introducing me to this breakfast concoction.  These buns are perfect for that breakfast sandwich.

Bun Shaping:

• Prepare your sheet pans:  parchment paper + a sprinkle of cornmeal. (#ad)
• Divide the dough into individual buns.  Weighing each dough piece helps them to cook in the same time. (#ad)  Do you have to weigh them?  Absolutely not!
  • Large Hamburger Buns – 150 grams
  • “Normal” Hamburger Buns – 140 grams
  • Breakfast Buns – 120 grams
  • Hot Dog Rolls – 110 grams

• Create a nice looking bun by doing a mini stretch and fold technique on each roll.  The trick to a perfect bun is to shape it tightly so it holds its form. (See the video below.)
• When you place them on the baking sheet, space them so they will barely touch each other when the buns expand.  If they touch each other they will rise up (into a lovely dome) versus expanding out (into a sad flat bun).

As you shape the buns, you might feel a strange attachment to these doughy balls. Don’t get too attached, though—soon they’ll be hamburger vessels, and you’ll have to eat them.

Step 6: Rise #2 for the Sourdough Hamburger Buns

Cover with a damp tea towel or plastic wrap.  Now, find a cozy spot for the buns to grow and become the rolls they are meant to be. At this point, I love to stick the buns in the oven … with the oven OFF … but with the light ON.  I find the buns think this is a warm cozy spot … dough version of a spa day.

Once again, I cannot tell you how long it will take for the buns to double in size.  My guess is 3-8 hours.  I forgot to mention before, that the timing is also dependent on the dough’s mood today and possibly the alignment of the planets.  Find something to distract yourself during this agonizing wait. Maybe scroll through social media to see how other people’s perfectly fluffy sourdough hamburger buns turned out, and try not to feel envious.

Step 7: Egg Wash …the Secret to Instagram-Worthy Sourdough Hamburger Buns

Once they are doubled in size (or puffed to satisfaction), give your buns a spa treatment with an egg wash.  Whisk one egg with a tablespoon of water, and brush it over the tops of the buns.  This is what will give them that shiny, golden-brown finish that says, “I’m fancy.”

I have historically skipped this step.  I am making an early New Year’s resolution that I will no longer be lazy.  The buns are GORGEOUS if you put an egg wash on them.  My second New Year’s resolution is to sprinkle sesame seeds on them.  The egg wash perfectly holds the sesame seeds on the buns.

This step makes me feel like I am a gourmet baker.  It is worth the few extra seconds of werk.

Step 8: Bake the Buns

Are you ready to be shocked?  Cook these beauties at 475°.  You DID read that correctly.  Were you expecting 350° or maybe even 375°?  The first time I made them … I was shocked too.  I don’t know why this werks, but it does.  If someone knows why this high temperature is the magic number, please let me know in the comments.

Bake them for 10 minutes. Don’t walk away … with the temperature that high, you can go from golden brown to black very quickly.

It’s time to take your buns out of the oven. The smell will be heavenly, and you might be tempted to tear into one immediately. Don’t. Let them rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Then move them to a wire rack.

Once they’ve cooled, slice one open. It’s yours—and nothing feels quite as satisfying as biting into a hamburger that’s nestled in a bun you made from scratch.

Victory Dance – You Deserve It

At this point, feel free to dance around your kitchen like a baking champion. Maybe even film it for TikTok. You’ve earned it. You’ve battled sourdough starter, conquered dough, and shaped buns like a pro.

Conclusion: You + Sourdough = BFFs?

In the end, making sourdough hamburger buns is a bit like life itself—full of ups, downs, and unpredictable moments. But, when all is said and done, there’s nothing quite as satisfying as biting into a soft, golden bun you crafted from scratch. Plus, you now have the perfect vehicle for all your burger creations and bragging rights for your next BBQ.

So, go forth, enjoy your buns, and remember: If your buns didn’t turn out exactly as planned, that’s okay! Just call them “artisan” and act like it was on purpose.

Some sentences or ideas may be from chatgpt.