King Arthur Flour Hamburger Roll Recipe...(pix)

They look great, if looks count for anything. I really need to get a scale...correction...a digital scale not the dinky littly one that Mrs. G got from somewhere or other. Both for baking and sausage making.

@jfm0830 - didn't you do some New England type hot dog buns at one time?

jfm0830 said:

Dyal this is going to sound like I am being defensive in a moment, but I am not. Everyone is entitled to their own tastes. That is why there are so many recipes and types of food and that is a great thing about this hobby. I have been baking those hamburger rolls for 5 or 6 years now and any time I have made them, people always say they are the best burger buns they've tried. I agree they have a different texture than commercial rolls, and to me that is a good thing. Your mileage may vary as to whether that is a good thing or not. To me the buttery and sweet flavor of the buns, PLUS their slightly denser texture all make them superior to store bought rolls.

@Eggcelsior is right on about the weight option. I took several classes at the King Arthur Four HQ in Vermont to learn baking. At first I learned how to bake specifically so I could make my own hamburger and hot dog rolls. The first class I took they had us scoop out 1 cup of KAF all-purpose flour. The "official" weight of 1 cup of their All-purpose flour is 4.25 oz per cup. Out of the 20 people in the class, 3 got it right and the rest of us were over or under by up to an ounce. The only way to be precise is to measure out the main ingredients, which is why KAF gives weights for these items in their recipes as well. The first thing I did when I got home from that class is buy a Salter Zero Tare Digital Scale. If you don't have  scale yet, buy a zero tare model where you can put a plate or bowl on the scale, zero it out and then weight your ingredient after the container has been zeroed out of the equation. Another thing that can affect the recipe is the amount of humidity in the air. This can affect the rise, which can affect the texture. I'm guessing it is a whole lot more humid in S.C. in the Winter than it is here in MA. So you also need to tweak recipes by adding a little flour or water to get the consistency of the dough right.

There is another reason that the homemade version of the rolls may seem too dense. I do believe that most commercial bakeries add either chemicals or otherwise aerate the buns to get that light texture. The cynic in me always thought they did it because more air=less ingredients=lower cost to them. Until I met you I never knew people actually liked the lighter texture. A few years ago I sent you some packages of some side split New England Style Hot Dog Rolls. I felt bad because I had to send you a commercial version so they wouldn't spoil while shipping. You loved the rolls and specifically commented on the light airy texture they had. My FIL and I had a bit of a giggle over that one, because that is not a good feature for us. We like the denser homemade version of those hotdog rolls. Most commercial hamburg or hotdog rolls do not hold up well to chili.  My FIL, who used to be a commercial baker for 8 years, spent that summer trying to achieve a homemade version of hotdog rolls similar to the ones I sent you. He never could do it. 

So there is my 22 cents worth. Do try making the recipe by weight. I always do my recipes by weight. When I enter the recipe into my recipe software, I always add the weights of the ingredients if the original recipe doesn't provide them. Don't sweat the small stuff like 1/2 tsp of salt. If the recipe doesn't have the weights for certain items, KAF has this handy chart. 

Master Weight Chart

Jim