A hot dog bun is a type of soft bun

Bun

A bun is a small, usually sweet, bread. Commonly they are hand-sized or smaller, domed in shape, with a flat bottom. A bun can also be a savory bread roll similar to a bap or barmcake....

 shaped specifically to contain a hot dog

Hot dog

A hot dog is a sausage served in a sliced bun. It is very often garnished with mustard, ketchup, onions, mayonnaise, relish and/or sauerkraut.-History:...

. The original purpose of this bun was to make it possible to eat hot dogs without burning ones hands.

There are two basic types: top-loading, which are available only in New England

New England

New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

 and called Frankfurter rolls, New England Style Rolls or Lobster Buns in some areas, and side-loading, common in the rest of the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 also called American Style Buns. The advantages to a top loader are that it holds the hot dog securely and fits nicely into little three-sided paper boxes. Top loaders are generally baked side by side and torn apart as needed, leaving a flat side surface for grilling.

Side loaders are much more doughy because they are baked as a pack and not individually produced and cut like top loading buns are.

History

The history of the hot dog bun is well disputed. Some people believe that it functions as a sandwich

Sandwich

A sandwich is a food item, typically consisting of two or more slices of :bread with one or more fillings between them, or one slice of bread with a topping or toppings, commonly called an open sandwich. Sandwiches are a widely popular type of lunch food, typically taken to work or school, or...

 which was originally invented by the 4th Earl of Sandwich, John Montagu in 1762. Some think that the hot dog bun came as a natural adaption to the hotdog which was invented by German

Germans

The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

 immigrants in the 1800s. In the United States, the hot dog bun's long historical mark is thought by some historians to begin with the Louisiana Purchase Exposition

Louisiana Purchase Exposition

The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the Saint Louis World's Fair, was an international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States in 1904.- Background :...

. The Bavarian

Bavaria

Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

 concessionaire, Anton Feuchtwange, was giving out gloves to hold sausages in the 1904 exposition to his customers. When the gloves he loaned out were not being returned, the man asked his brother who was a baker

Baker

A baker is someone who bakes and sells bread, Cakes and similar foods may also be produced, as the traditional boundaries between what is produced by a baker as opposed to a pastry chef have blurred in recent decades...

 to invent a solution. Thus, the hot dog bun was born.

Regional variations

The hot dog bun is a widely loved adaptation to the hot dog or frankfurter. Many people have changed and tweaked the idea of the bun all over the world.

In Chicago, Illinois, where poppy-seed buns are popularly served with Chicago-style hot dog

Chicago-style hot dog

A Chicago-style hot dog, or Chicago Dog, is a steamed or water-simmered all-beef frankfurter on a poppy seed bun, originating from the city of Chicago, Illinois...

s, the buns are made with high-gluten

Gluten

Gluten is a protein composite found in foods processed from wheat and related grain species, including barley and rye...

 flour to hold up to steaming.

In Denmark, a hot dog bun called the Grab Dog exists which is a thinner alternative to a hot dog bun made by Korvbröds Bagarn

In Sweden, a healthier alternative to a hot dog called a Ecological Bun exists and is also made by Korvbröds Bagarn.

In Korea, Panko

Panko

is a variety of flaky bread crumb used in Japanese cuisine as a crunchy coating for fried foods, such as tonkatsu. Panko is made from bread baked by passing an electric current through the dough, yielding bread without crusts, and it has a crisper, airier texture than most types of breading found...

 Breading can be used to fry hot dog buns creating a crispy bun like shell.

In China, hot dogs are sometimes served in a soft eggy roll.

In Japan, the hot dog bun can be sliced from the top of the bun instead of from the side.

In Italy, putting a hot dog in a large brioche loaf makes a filling variation

Common ingredients

Hot dog buns are essentially a light and fluffy bread baked into a specially formed baking pans that allow for a specific shape. Flour, milk or cream, yeast, butter or shortening, eggs and a small amount of sugar are some basic ingredients. Some regional variations on recipes may include sesame seeds, whole wheat flour

Whole wheat flour

Whole wheat flour is a powdery substance derived by grinding or mashing the wheat's whole grain. It is used in baking but typically added to other "white" flours to provide nutrients , texture, and body to the finished product....

, brown sugar

Brown sugar

Brown sugar is a sucrose sugar product with a distinctive brown color due to the presence of molasses. It is either an unrefined or partially refined soft sugar consisting of sugar crystals with some residual molasses content, or it is produced by the addition of molasses to refined white...

, and poppy seeds

Poppy Seeds

Poppy Seeds, released in 1971, was the second and final studio album from Vancouver, British Columbia band The Poppy Family. The album has yet to be released on modern formats and remains a rare vinyl....

.