Choosing the right burger bun for your burger is like choosing the right pillow for your bed. Instead of resting your head on it, you are going to sink your teeth into it. Do you prefer something firm, such as a kaiser roll or something soft and possibly too small like a potato roll. I like to take into account the size of the burger and a guess on how greasy and juicy it will be before choosing the right bun.
The Kaiser Roll - To me this is a classic deli burger roll. The Northwood deli served all of their flat top cooked patties on this roll. It’s best quality is the fact that it is tough on the outside, lending some extra texture and bite. This also insures that the juices from the patty are not going to seep through and dirty your fingers. However a smaller patty may get lost in this rather large roll. So only use this patty if you are cooking larger burgers. Good ones can also get expensive if you are serving a lot of people.
White Burger Bun - The most ubiquitous of the list has to be the classic white burger bun. Always found in an inconvenient amount prepackaged near the pre-sliced processed bread, it can serve any purpose. For being so soft, this roll somehow rarely becomes soggy. Even without a light toasting on the grill. This is probably most people’s mainstay. It is easy to find, it’s cheap, and it will make your burgers look bigger when they hang over the sides. The neutral taste is nice if you are going to add any homemade sauces or you are a ketchup person.
Brioche Roll - NO! You are grilling, not making french toast. Unless you prefer to cook your hamberges to the same moisture content to match the Gobi Desert, you might as well use a tissue for your bottom bun and a cupcake for the top bun. NO!
Pretzel Roll - What are you trying to prove?
The Potato Bun - The potato bun is my favorite. It is not perfect but I still love it. It is sweet enough to accent the taste of the burger but not over power it. This lends it range, as this quality will help it pair nicely with any classic or modern burger toppings. It is nice and soft but needs a slight toasting. It may just look like a yellow whit bread roll but it does not have the same magical properties of making juices disappear. Because of this it will need a light face down toasting. Just to warm it up and give it some body. Toast it too long and it will dry out.
White Bread - Easy to come by and cheap. The original burger bun in the USA. Used at cookout today to recreate pre-WWII life or if you forgot to buy burger rolls. Just remember to toast them. They work the same way as the most of the bread above but be careful because it comes in two pieces, instead of with some strange bready umbilical cord so as not to lose the other half of bread.
In closing, use what makes you happy and what makes sense. Do not try and serve 30 people burgers on kaiser rolls unless you have help. The tray will be unwieldy. Don’t ever use a brioche roll. I know a lot of restaurants do it. Probably a lot of your favorites. I know a lot of mine do. Next time you order one of their burgers, imagine how nice it would be to not have to use a napkin each time you want to sip your bee or check your phone.