Recommend a GOOD hot dog bun

The ones I've found on the shelves seem to split apart into two pieces. Based upon the input from my 5 year old girls - this is completely unacceptable.
They also do not have the sophisticated pallet to enjoy expensive, difficult to obtain, premiere examples of bun craftsmanship.
Therefore, as indicated in the title, I'm in search of a good - not great - hot dog bun.

Any suggestions? Favorites?

ummm ... S. Rosen's doesn't do the trick?

Yeah, Rosen poppyseed are the gold standard in our house.

I haven't seen Rosen's. I'll have to look more closely.
The poopy seeds may be an issue, that's one aversion I haven't cured them of just yet.

zoid wrote:I haven't seen Rosen's. I'll have to look more closely.
The poopy seeds may be an issue, that's one aversion I haven't cured them of just yet.

You can buy them with or without poppy seeds.

Queen Esther rolls are available behind the counter @ Romanian on Clark and Touhy. May as well get some links, salami and kishke (frozen) while you're there.

Rosen's hot dog buns come with and without poppy seeds, if that's an issue. They also make a slightly more substantial "Brat & Sausage" bun which I prefer.

i love queen esther's buns, but the only ones i buy, and have seen, are quite a bit larger than your average hot dog. i'm not sure little kids would approve. and to find rosen's bread; often they are below knee level, in front of the deli department at jewel or dominicks. i love their thin sliced rye bread, as well as their hot dog buns. justjoan

justjoan wrote:i love queen esther's buns, but the only ones i buy, and have seen, are quite a bit larger than your average hot dog. i'm not sure little kids would approve. and to find rosen's bread; often they are below knee level, in front of the deli department at jewel or dominicks. i love their thin sliced rye bread, as well as their hot dog buns. justjoan

(bolding mine)

AH-HA!

Thank you!

zoid wrote:

justjoan wrote:i love queen esther's buns, but the only ones i buy, and have seen, are quite a bit larger than your average hot dog. i'm not sure little kids would approve. and to find rosen's bread; often they are below knee level, in front of the deli department at jewel or dominicks. i love their thin sliced rye bread, as well as their hot dog buns. justjoan

(bolding mine)

AH-HA!

Thank you!

On the kosher side, Tel Aviv Bakery has challah-dough hot dog buns with toasted minced onions baked in. Pretty damn awesome but maybe not for your kids.

Hi,

I happen to like potato hot dog buns whenever I can find them. They are often very soft and cling nicely to the dog. Otherwise I buy Rosens with poppy seeds. I don't care for firm buns.

What I really don't like is buns intended for bratwurst, they are too firm and bready. I much prefer a hot dog bun on a brat.

Regards,

In New England the buns are slab sided and used to come in a cardboard sleeve at a take out ala Howard Johnson's. Much more suitable for a hot dog when grilled in butter on both sides.
The best in the Mid West are Rosen's as noted.
Wish I had a local source for a slab sided bun!-Dick

HI,

At Woodman's they have unsliced hot dog buns suitable for slicing through the top for lobster type sandwiches or hot dogs. This unsliced bun costs much more than the high volume sliced buns. I'd buy it only if I was just had to make an authentic lobster sandwich at home.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:At Woodman's they have unsliced hot dog buns suitable for slicing through the top for lobster type sandwiches or hot dogs. This unsliced bun costs much more than the high volume sliced buns. I'd buy it only if I was just had to make an authentic lobster sandwich at home.

While I'll be the first to admit I keep my eyes open in the summer for authentic lobster roll buns sold here in the Chicago area, the point about top-sliced buns costing much more than side-sliced buns forces my frugal side to ask - how much is lost by just ... ... turning a regular hot dog buns 90 degrees to one side?

how much is lost by just ... ... turning a regular hot dog buns 90 degrees to one side?

I think one issue is that regular hot dog buns are sliced with a thinner seam where the two sides of the bun meet and are more likely to fall apart with a thicker filling.

budrichard wrote:In New England the buns are slab sided and used to come in a cardboard sleeve at a take out ala Howard Johnson's. Much more suitable for a hot dog when grilled in butter on both sides.
The best in the Mid West are Rosen's as noted.
Wish I had a local source for a slab sided bun!-Dick

as discussed in the thread on 'frank's and dawgs', local baker, nicole's, makes amazing slab sized buns for franks, and will make them to order. i remember the howard johnson toasted, buttery slab sized buns fondly. when i was very young, and my family was traveling by car, i assumed every time we stopped at a howard johnsons for a meal, it was the SAME howard johnsons. i didn't understand about chain restaurants. i thought we were returning to the same place. justjoan

edited to correct the name of frank and dawgs

Only problem with the unbelievably good new england-style buns from Nicole's: they're $1 per bun.

gleam wrote:Only problem with the unbelievably good new england-style buns from Nicole's: they're $1 per bun.

Exactly, Nicole's hot dog buns are terrific, and the buns they use at Franks n' Dawg's, but $1 per bun retail is ridiculous. I did a book signing in August where I cooked up a boat-load of Meisfeld's brats and natural casing wieners, I was going to use Nicole's until I heard the price. Ended up using buns from Pticek's Bakery, which is owned by Phil W's wife's family and could not have been more pleased. Buns were twenty five cents per and terrific. I had quite a few left which I froze and have been using since. 20-minutes on the counter and a quick pan-toast in butter.

Rosen's are the standard dog stand bun, but most any good independent bakery will have hot dog buns.

Enjoy,
Gary

zoid wrote:I haven't seen Rosen's. I'll have to look more closely.

The Rosen's buns are typically in the deli section below/in front of the deli cases rather than in the bread aisle. These are the standard Chicago hot dog bun, and my first choice for their authenticity.

To keep them from splitting, steam them a bit first by wrapping tightly in a paper towel and zapping in the microwave for like 10-15 sec.

Just a comment. If you freeze hot dog buns they seem to be more likely to come apart at the seam after thawing than never-frozen bun.

Ah, how refreshing it is when the minutae of my wacky life with young children becomes thoughtful conversation by grown-ups on lthforum. By this I mean, just two nights ago I was at the table with my 4 and 8 year olds and I served up all beef Nathan's dogs on Rosen's Poppyseed buns. My oldest is hyper specific about his hot dog situation. He only likes Kosher beef dogs, he likes them steamed and he prefers that they are on Rosen's poppyseed buns. So I served up kosher beef dogs on Rosen's Poppyseed buns, like I have for years. The boys were psyched. And then, the bun split right down the "seam" on the bottom. Sam frowned. And he said, "It's supposed to be a hot dog, not a sandwich." And he had a point. You want the bun to hold the dog, not just frame it. Well, the whole bag seemed to go that way. And my guys chomped down their dogs. But I wonder if um, my buns weren't fresh? I bought them from Jewel by the deli case as I have always done.

Cathy2, you mentioned some potato buns, where might a gal find those? We had potato buns in Florida last spring break (they were from an Amish farm) and we used them for hamburgers and they were almost the perfect light texture for letting the meat shine through.

best

bjt

bjt wrote:Cathy2, you mentioned some potato buns, where might a gal find those? We had potato buns in Florida last spring break (they were from an Amish farm) and we used them for hamburgers and they were almost the perfect light texture for letting the meat shine through.

Replying three years later, I saw potato buns at Woodmen's.

***

Has anyone attempted to make their own hot dog buns? If yes, were you happy with the results?

Regards,

bjt wrote: my buns weren't fresh? I bought them from Jewel by the deli case as I have always done.

Cathy2, you mentioned some potato buns, where might a gal find those? We had potato buns in Florida last spring break (they were from an Amish farm) and we used them for hamburgers and they were almost the perfect light texture for letting the meat shine through.

best

bjt

Martin's Potato Rolls
are your answer. The link I provided has a search form that will tell you where to find them. HTH

"Has anyone attempted to make their own hot dog buns? If yes, were you happy with the results?"

I purchased the flat sided hot dog bun pan from King Arthur.
The buns that I made were too heavy.
That was about the time of initial Post for this Thread.
I have not tried since, relying on Nicole for Lobster roll events, Rosen's for hot dog events and Sam's Club-16 count for everywhere in between.
Yesterday, I had a local Kenosha bakery make me brat buns for a party today using European Home Made Sausage brats made for me Friday morning and Vienna dogs, The buns were ok and I'm pretty sure that if I had asked for hot dog buns, I would have gotton the same thing. They were fresh but not slab sided.
I gave up in the quest for traditional New England hot dog and Lobster roll buns in the Midwest!-Dick
BTW an interesting factoid is that Vienna is now selling their Natural Casing Dog outside of the Factory Store in Wisconsin. They are now available at Woodman's and last Thursday they had a hot dog event at Woodman's with a free hot dog/bun to those that happened to drop in, as I did. Can't pass up an opportunity for a free Vienna dog/Rosen bun!
And yes I read that certain stores in the Chicago area carry them but never could verify.

The Fresh Market bakery bakes potato hotdog buns and potato hamburger buns. You can buy the hotdog buns individually or buy them in a pack of 8.

I've found the fresh-baked hot dog buns at Tony's Finer Foods to be very good. They are slightly sweet, with an eggy texture that's kind of like challah. After steaming them in the microwave they become this perfect soft, stretchy cradle for dog and wet toppings.

If you're looking for a potato roll, Aldi carries an OK one, was well as a potato hamburger bun.

Hi- All the Dominick's stores carry Martin's. I buy their bread there when it is on sale. Frequently I can find $.55 coupons good on any Martin's produce when I go to Dominick's. Often one of their products is on sale at Dominick's. I think their potato rolls were on sale. Hope this helps, Nancy

3 places I've found up in the northern suburbs that have worthy buns:

Sunset Foods in-house bakery (multiple locations)
1812 Green Bay Rd
Highland Park, IL 60035
(847) 432-5500

Tag's Bakery
2010 Central St
Evanston, IL 60201
(847) 328-1200

Fuddruckers (I'm not a huge fan of their food in general but their house-baked burger buns are very good. I think they bake hot dog buns, too)
1538 Clavey Rd
Highland Park, IL 60035
(847) 831-2501

=R=

Not yet mentioned in this thread are the challah hot dog buns baked in house at Fresh Farms on Touhy (I don't know if they're available at the other locations). They've become my defacto standard. Good eggy taste and substantial enough to hold up to 1/4 lb natural casing Vienna dog. The odd brat or two have even graced the insides of this bun with no ill effects.

Fresh Farms
5740 W Touhy
Niles, IL 60714
(847) 779-7343

Hi- I know that this is a lot to ask, but can anybody recommend a good whole wheat or even whole grain hot dog bun? Natural Ovens used to make an acceptable one, but they don't make it any more, and the other possibilities are kind of hohum. I am referring to Brownberry, Fit for Life and similar supermarket brands. Thanks, Nancy