Today we're using our stainless steel branding irons to demonstrate how you can mark burger and hot dog buns, as well as other food, with your logo. Have something you want to see branded? Let us know by leaving a comment below!
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We'll be using plain buns for our testing, and while sesame seed buns are delicious, using them may produce gaps in the branded mark, and might burn the seeds. For this reason, it's best to avoid branding buns that have seeds on them
Start by plugging your iron into the Temperature Control Unit and setting it fairly hot to start I started with a setting of 75 on my TCU and eventually turned it up to 90. Just like we demonstrated in our video guide for branding different species of wood, you should be sure to do some test markings at various TCU settings and dwell times to find the optimal setting and dwell times for your specific logo and food surface.
Before branding your bun, take a piece of aluminum foil that is slightly larger than your branding iron and spray it with an oil that has a high smoke point such as vegetable or avocado oil to develop a light coating of oil on the foil. Then take the engraved face of the hot branding iron and tap gently on the foil to transfer a small amount of the oil to the heated brand. By lightly coating the branding tool in this way it will help to prevent the bun from sticking to the heated iron.
There are two methods of applying the brand to the buns that we recommend trying to see which gives the best marks on your product. The first method is to bring the heated branding iron down straight into the top of the bun, being sure not to press too hard. If too much pressure is applied the back of the heated branding head may make contact with the bun and could leave over-branded marks.
The alternative method is to rock the surface of the branding iron along the curvature of the bun. This can sometimes result in a clearer mark especially for wider brands or when marking buns that have a more extreme curve rather than a flat top. Additionally, by rocking the brand around the curve of the top bun you will compress the bun less which can help to avoid smushing it.
Now let's talk about Artwork Complexity, When branding food you ideally want to use a logo that is as simple as possible to help ensure that your branded marks are both easy to apply and also legible to the guest. You also will want to have the branded mark be as open as possible with a good amount of white space in your design. This will both help the legibility of the mark and application of the brand, but will also limit the amount of charring to the bun.
Burgers not on your menu? Our brands also work well branding other types of bread, in addition to hot dogs and fruit garnishes and more!
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