The Clever Balancing Act For Toasting Buns Without An Oven

Toasting the buns is one of the simplest yet most impactful culinary tips for upgrading your hamburgers. Home cooks and professional chefs alike understand the power that crispy buns hold: Along with creating a more satisfying bite, toasting the interior of buns also makes them more structurally sound and less likely to turn soggy from all the burger's juices and sauces. Sadly, for those without access to an oven, that toasted perfection can seem tragically out of reach, but all hope is not lost. You can achieve toasted buns with an ordinary toaster and a little bit of skill.

Thick hamburger buns will not fit into the slots of most toasters, so in order to give the buns a nice singe, you will have to balance them on top of the toaster while it is turned on. Redditer u/TacoLake pointed out that leaning one bun against the other as you would when building a house of cards allows the heat from the toaster to rise up and hit the buns. With the toaster angled lengthwise, balance the buns across the long sides of both slots for the best coverage. From there, it's just a matter of playing around with the settings of your toaster to get the results you're after.

It would only take a few minutes to toast your buns, but unless you're lucky enough to have a toaster with a dedicated timer and temperature control knob, you might have to do a bit of experimenting when using the toaster-stack method. Most toasters max out at around 400 or 450 degrees Fahrenheit and have a low end of about 310 degrees Fahrenheit. With these numbers in mind, putting your toaster between a low and medium setting should be enough for the heat to radiate up and sufficiently toast your buns.

The most important thing to do when attempting this technique is to keep an eye on your buns. Leaving them unattended while they toast may lead to them burning, or toppling over and ruining all your hard work. Monitoring the buns closely will also inform you if you need to reset the toaster to give them more of a char.

This method works for any bread option that doesn't fit in the toaster, like brioche buns, pretzel buns, croissants, and homemade hamburger buns. It may seem a bit extreme, but anything that will help you get the satisfying crunch of toasted buns is worth it.