Hot Dog Buns- To Steam or Not To Steam?

ChubbyBurger:

At the Dogma Grill in North Miami, they steam the Vienna Beef poppy seed rolls, and I like the effect.

Here is a shot of the cooking area. To the right of the grill, there is a domed clear cover under which the rolls are steaming. They leave them in the bag, although I don't know how open it is; they don't seem to fuss much pulling a roll out.

Don, the buns are in a special steamer box known as a #2 Hot Dog Bun Tray(the yellow boxes in the right hand corner of your picture). The box is wrapped in cellophane and the top is slit on three sides and placed atop a covered steam pan. The final baking process is completed once the buns are fully steamed in the box. Alpha Baking Company aka S.Rosen's/Mary Ann produces buns for Vienna Beef that are shipped frozen from their Chicago plant.

CSD PhD-Professor of Hot Dogs

Aha! I should have known one of you pros would recognize the equipment, etc. I believe they do exactly what you said, by the motions the fry-cook goes through retrieving the roll. I could see that the cellophane was still on the box. I had guessed that they slit the top, but I never asked.

Has anyone had any experience with the table top steamers? I'm curious what kind of job they do with the buns. Below is a link to the kind of units I'm talking about.

http://www.concessionstands.com/hotdogsteamers.htm

Good grief! Double the cost of even the cheaper ones and you can buy a 4-well steam table!

Here is a 4 well for $907

http://www.acitydiscount.com/Supreme-Metal-4-Well-Steam-Hot-Food-Table-WB-4G-.0.22663.1.1.htm?PPCID=4&link=Catering-Buffet-Equipment

I put a towel on the bottom of the buns, and a towel and on top of the buns. It works perfectly. The only way they'll get soggy is if I put too much water in the pan. I have the luxury of having 3 steam bins like the professor. It's crucial.

Stang