Why New England Hot Dog Buns Are Split At The Top

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For many people, the idea of a hot dog bun may be one that is lightly browned, rounded, submarine-shaped, and sliced nearly in half through the side to leave a sort of hinge. When filled with the frankfurter, the bun tends to teeter on its side with the cased meat nestled between the rounded top and flatter bottom. 

But, ask a New Englander what a hot dog bun looks like, and they might have a whole other idea. In this region of the country, traditional 'furter bread options are typically slit cut right through the top, from tip to tip, as the hot dog lies in an opening in the middle of both long sides. 

While hot dog buns were invented in the late s, it was in the s when the New England-style bun (also called the split-top bun, top-sliced bun, or frankfurter roll) was invented. But it actually had nothing to do with hot dogs at the time. The split-top bun was created especially for the clam rolls at the now extinct New England-based restaurant-turned-hotel chain Howard Johnson's. The Maine-based bakery J.J. Nissen was commissioned by Howard Johnson's to create a bun that would stand upright without tipping out the strips of cornmeal-dredged fried clams.

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According to New England Today, the famous rolls can be traced back to the kitchen of Howard Johnson's, the Massachusetts-based chain of restaurants and motels that once boasted locations across virtually the entire country in the mid-s. Sometime in the late s, the chain contacted a Maine-based bakery named J.J. Nissen with a special request (via Boston Globe). They wanted a special roll for their fried clam sandwich, one that could stand upright to make preparing and eating them more convenient.

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Hot dog rolls, as we know them, are only sliced partway through to create a hinge of sorts. However, at the time of Howard Johnson's request, the technology to do so did not exist. According to the Boston Globe, until that moment, you could only buy buns that were cut all the way through into two slices. J.J. Nissen developed a special pan to bake the rolls, which became an instant hit at Howard Johnson's locations. 

The fact that it lent itself well to display and the exposed crumb on the sides could be buttered and toasted, were also key to the New England roll's success. Side-cut rolls, introduced in the '50s, per New England Today, didn't have these features, and yet somehow they became the norm around the nation, while the New England roll remains a regional treat.

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