What To Do with Leftover Buns?

[Chris Amirault]

Without question, the bread product I toss out most frequently are hamburger and hot dog buns. Take this weekend: I have three burger buns leftover from a pulled pork dinner, and I have no good idea for using them.

Let's face it: most buns aren't very high quality artisanal bread -- they're made for soaking up juices and tenderly falling apart in your mouth, after all. As such, they're not well suited for the same sorts of things that I'd use good bread for. If I had an idea or two in the next couple of hours, I'd be willing to give it a go; my four-year-old daughter is pretty tolerant of daddy's experiments.

What do you think?

[Lilija]

Squishy rolls taste good toasted, under a tuna melt, to me. Also, French toast, bread pudding, or breadcrumbs.

[Chris Amirault]

See, those last three, I'd never use buns for those. French toast demands good bread in particular.

I'm really liking the tuna melt idea. Or perhaps an egg-bacon-and-cheese sandwich....

[Holly Moore]

Sloppy Joe's

[Holly Moore]

Also, considering that you live in Rhode Island, a local delicacy - chop suey sandwiches.

Edited May 26, 2009 by Holly Moore (log)

[Peter the eater]

Maybe too late for tonight's dinner, but all the bready stuff between fresh and moldy here gets converted to crumbs for baking etc. Freeze it, very handy.

[christine007]

Freeze, until you need to make stuffing for pouiltry. That's what I do.

[chef koo]

bread crumbs?

[emilyr]

When I was little, my mom and dad used to take the leftover buns and spread them with butter, cinnamon and sugar, and then stick them under the broiler, making cinnamon toast. They did it with other bread, too, but the hamburger and hotdog buns were best. They got crunchy on the outside and were still soft on the inside. If the sugar got all gooey, the bread would get almost cinnamon roll-y. Yum. Pure comfort food! I still make it when I'm getting a cold.

[Lisa Shock]

How about croutons?

Cut them into chunks, drizzle with butter or olive oil, toss some herbs over them and bake in a low oven until crisp, or cook in a cast iron skillet on top of the stove.

[Susan in FL]

When I was little, my mom and dad used to take the leftover buns and spread them with butter, cinnamon and sugar, and then stick them under the broiler, making cinnamon toast. They did it with other bread, too, but the hamburger and hotdog buns were best. They got crunchy on the outside and were still soft on the inside. If the sugar got all gooey, the bread would get almost cinnamon roll-y. Yum. Pure comfort food! I still make it when I'm getting a cold.

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That sounds good. I'll do that.

[djyee100]

The leftover hot dog rolls are perfect for fried clam rolls with tartar sauce; also shrimp salad or lobster salad. I toast or grill the day-old rolls to soften 'em up.

I've always liked Beverly Gannon's recipe for spicy shrimp salad made with a dressing of mayonnaise, cilantro, sriracha, & sesame oil. I've thought of serving this shrimp salad in soft white rolls, but haven't gotten around to it. There are never any leftovers, probably because I and others happily eat this salad with spoons straight from the bowl.

The shrimp salad is a subrecipe in this recipe:

http://books.google.com/books?id=hUK0obUbH...+gannon#PPA3,M1

Do the rolls freeze well? You could wrap the leftover buns individually in plastic wrap. Then on a busy day, you could grill a burger or hot dog, toast or grill the frozen roll, & you're good to go with a quick sandwich.

These rolls taste good slathered with butter & grilled, too...

Edited May 27, 2009 by djyee100 (log)

[Lilija]

Thanks for reminding me!

I forgot to mention something I did with half a bag of aging hot dog rolls, last month. Bootleg garlic bread. I made up some garlic butter, seperated the halves of the hot dog rolls, slathered both sides with garlic butter, and grilled them, to serve with dinner.

They were so good, I'm tempted to buy a bag of rolls to use for that purpose, specifically.

Edited May 27, 2009 by Lilija (log)

[Shelby]

Bread pudding!

[HungryC]

I find that squishy white bread freezes okay (though I'm talking about the homemade squishy kind, not storebought); I make a whole batch of homemade burger buns and store the (baked) excess in the freezer. Defrost/warm in a slow oven (300 or so) until you can split, then toast--they're as good as fresh-baked.

Storebought bread: I usually toss bread ends & leftover rolls into a freezer bag & eventually make bread pudding (savory or sweet). I use it for crumbs, too, but I generally make the crumbs first, then store in the freezer.

[...tm...]

In my opinion the "bread soaked in milk" I add to meatballs gives meatballs the best texture if it is the squishy, American sort.

[Kajikit]

Toss them in the freezer until you're ready to use them. They make great garlic rolls if they're sliced in half and spread with garlic butter, then broiled for five minutes. I love sesame seed buns cut in half and made into open-faced grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches. The tomato juices soak into the bun and the sesame seeds get toasted while the outside of the bun goes crispy.

[suzilightning]

When I was little, my mom and dad used to take the leftover buns and spread them with butter, cinnamon and sugar, and then stick them under the broiler, making cinnamon toast. They did it with other bread, too, but the hamburger and hotdog buns were best. They got crunchy on the outside and were still soft on the inside. If the sugar got all gooey, the bread would get almost cinnamon roll-y. Yum. Pure comfort food! I still make it when I'm getting a cold.

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TOAST DOPE IT !!!

actually the only reason i buy white buns(top cut for hot dogs rolls) is for john's s;o[[y joe fetish and my toasted lobster claw sandwich. freeze the leftovers.

Edited June 5, 2009 by suzilightning (log)