If you’re at the grocery store and need a quick list of options:
- Martin’s Potato Rolls
- Brioche Buns (any brand)
- Sourdough Bread (any brand)
- King’s Hawaiian Sweet Buns
- Hamburger Buns (any brand)
I find potato rolls have the best characteristics for pulled pork.
They’re slightly sweet, they absorb juices without becoming soggy, they also have a springiness that other buns lack (like brioche).
1. Potato Buns are an Unsung Hero.
The biggest reason I prefer potato buns is because they work great for all types of meat. It holds the meat without losing integrity; It absorbs juices, but without becoming soggy.
If you’re using a finishing sauce for your pork, this can be to your benefit.
Potato buns are also slightly sweet – which pairs wonderfully with pulled pork.
Texturally, they also have a great springiness that other buns just lack.
Other buns also tend to dry out as they sit. Potato buns will stay nice and moist until folks are ready to load their rolls up with pork.
This is due to the potato starch which absorbs more water than wheat starch – meaning a moist bun.
For this same reason, any unused buns will also last longer without going stale.
Overall, Potato buns just work best for pulled pork – plain and simple.
2. Brioche Buns are Overrated but Work
The main ingredients used for Brioche buns are flour, milk, eggs, and sugar. Meaning, you get a bun that’s eggy and sugary – and most pulled pork is sugary.
Just to sort of express what I mean by “sugary.” Brioche buns are borderline associated with dessert:
- It’s been said that Marie Antoinette uttered: “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche” or “Let them eat cake.”
- Brioche is also considered Viennoiseries or a breakfast pastry made in the style of Vienna, Austria.
More often than not, pulled pork is paired with a sweet dry rub featuring dark brown sugar or white sugar.
The meat is then is further spritzed and wrapped with something sweet like apple juice or apple cider vinegar.
We now have a sweet roll.
So it’s sweet, on sweet, on sweet.
This is also where tangy vinegar-based finishing sauces come into play, same with slaw and other pickled ingredients like red onions. There has to be a way to cut through all the sweet.
Brioche buns are best described as light and airy with a flaky, brown crust.
Due to this internal texture, I personally wouldn’t use a vinegar-based finishing sauce with a brioche bun and would rather use a molasses or mustard-based sauce instead (due to the potential for sogginess).
3. I’m a Sucker for Sourdough
While sourdough bread tastes similar to other yeasted bread, it has a slight tanginess that’s super appetizing – however, this flavor is entirely dependent on how long the sourdough fermented for.
Usually the taste ranges from slightly sweet to very sour; I tend to fall in the middle and prefer a slight tanginess.
The reason the above is important is because the flavor pairs really well with pulled pork.
A traditional finishing sauce for a pulled pork sandwich is some form of acid – typically apple cider vinegar or distilled white vinegar combined with some form of heat – like hot sauce or cayenne.
You get tang from the vinegar and heat from the hot sauce, both of which compliment pulled pork.
To really build on this “tangy” flavor, you can use sourdough bread.
4. Kings Hawaiian Sweet Buns
My family has always used King’s Hawaiian sweet dinner rolls for big events like Thanksgiving or Christmas. The rolls have a great balance of sweet flavor and texture – they have a flaky outside and a fluffy interior.
While other types of Portuguese sweet bread exists, King’s Hawaiian just seems to do it better.
While their dinner rolls can make for awesome pulled pork sliders, their buns work wonderfully for people with big appetites. The bun’s circumference is the biggest on this list.
Similar to the other rolls, the sweet flavor also pairs well with the pulled pork but again, I wouldn’t use a thin vinegar sauce as it’ll turn soggy.
5. Cheap Hamburger Buns
When in doubt, just buy the cheap stuff.
The biggest reason I’m not big on hamburger buns is simply because they’re quite small. Once you load up a pulled pork sandwich with 1/4 lb of meat, you’re then left trying to put pickles, red onions, coleslaw, etc. on the sandwich.
For someone like my Mom who’s not big on messy eating, she’d rather just use plain white bread, which is also an option.
