Hamburger buns - the war is on

Here in Belgium, people mostly cook sausages (especially merguez), kebabs and (more recently) spare ribs on their barbecues. The difference with the states has always intrigued me. I think that because hamburgers are more of an occasional thing that we tend to overlook them on the grill.

My sister and I are planning to do a barbecue soon - the occasion to try a couple of beef patties on our new Weber. I want to make great burgers. 'Woah!' burgers, to be precise. Which is why need THE perfect bun recipe, that will make us forget McDonald's forever. I found one here that had raving reviews and made made some last thursday because they didn't need too much time to rise (half an hour but I added an hour before the shaping stage).

The crust was kind of tough so I wrapped them in a kitchen towel when they came out of the oven. The texture was heavy. It was quite difficult to take a bite; the sauces (or even the meat) would slip out if you weren't careful... It had absolutely nothing to do with what I had in mind. They were quite decent toasted for breakfast the following morning, with cherry jam.

My quest for sweet, fluffy buns has officially began.