egg sandwich

So I have these hamburger buns made yesterday that must be used or fed to the boids.

That reminds me. Yesterday I saw a hummingbird stop by the remnants of the petunias hanging over the balcony. No doubt disappointed, it quickly left.  That is the first time I ever saw a hummingbird here a few blocks from the capitol. I got so excited I go,



But only thinking that inside my head which nearly blew out my brains.

Buns made with sour cream instead of milk. No egg. 1/2 cup sour cream and 1/2 cup hot water. 1 level teaspoon commercial yeast. 1 tablespoon honey. 1/8 teaspoon salt added after the dough is kneaded and before the buns are shaped so that the salt does not interfere with the yeast, even slightly, until the yeast is already going full blast.  1 rounded tablespoon whole wheat flour, then all-purpose flour by the tablespoon until the dough was no longer sticky. Kneaded and stretched and flattened and kneaded and stretched like a child playing with dough, as one does. Then gently rolled into balls. This dough was cut and weighed, but that's only because I like goofing around with the little kitchen scale -- it is not necessary. Irregularity is part of the homemade charm. Proofed on silicone Silpat placed on a baking tray under a plastic storage container, for oh, I don't know, an hour and a half. Not very long. I was busy doing other things so I didn't notice.

The dough flattens out on its own as it rises and loosens, which is to be expected as the flour is having its way with itself now that it is moistened by the molecular process termed autolysis AND because the byproducts of yeast are CO2 and alcohol. Ethanol precisely. As ethanol is liquid, you can expect the dough that is rising successfully to be loosened as yeast production procedes. Therefore, if you desire your buns to end up more puffed than flattened, then prepare a stiffer dough to begin with so that it flattens less.  Another method for higher buns is to bake them in a pan formed specifically for buns so that the loosened dough expands to the edges of the pan and then is forced upward instead of outward. That is how commercial hamburger bun bakers make them with a loose foamy dough that is nearly a batter. Another method is to bake the buns at high temperature within a closed preheated cloche of some sort, for shorter duration. That way, a wet dough will expand rapidly by extreme heat, the enclosure keeping the surface of the dough wet and elastic long enough for this expansion, and then setting the crust and crumb at maximum expansion before the mass can collapse. In that case, the internal holes produced  by yeast activity are greatly expanded by intense heat. Tricky, eh? So there are three ways right there to get elevation on your bread if that is what you want.  I do not do any of that here because I am aiming for flatter buns so that i can load them up and still get them inside my opened gaping maw without being grotesque about it.

All the pictures of this egg sandwich came out so good I couldn't make up my mind which one to use. Would you like to see the other two photos?

Update:

Maybe they're migrating back to Mexico or Central America. This makes me want buy a hummingbird feeder and see if I can encourage more. That does it. Next year I'm planting hummingbird-friendly flowers.