Keep This In Mind When Buying Martin's Potato Bread For Your Cookout

Potato buns are the absolute best bread for burgers. Their potato content gives them an especially moist texture, light crumb, and melt-in-your-mouth quality that simultaneously stands up sturdily to juicy burgers, hot dogs, and toppings. Martin's Famous Potato Rolls are a particularly popular brand, notably featured as the signature burger and hot dog buns used by Shake Shack restaurants around the world (there's a controversial backstory about the buns there, but that's another topic for another day). Before you grab a bag of Martin's buns for your next cookout, though, keep in mind the company's products have a shorter shelf life than other potato breads, so you may want to buy yours the same day or, at most, the day before your barbecue for optimum freshness.

While the potato variety generally has a longer shelf life than other breads — thanks to the starch molecules from the namesake potato element — Martin's buns are only dated to stay on supermarket shelves for a maximum of three to four days before being removed and replaced. This is in contrast to many commercial breads that are commonly marked to remain on store shelves for a week or longer before their sell-by dates expire.

A commitment to freshness is the stated reason Martin's Famous Potato Rolls have such a significantly shortened shelf life. The brand's products lack some of the common preservative ingredients that extend shelf life in other commercially sold breads, like citric acid, potassium sorbate, azodicarbonamide, and high-fructose corn syrup. The absence of these components makes Martin's breads more prone to accelerated staleness or molding.

A shortened sell-by date doesn't mean your Martin's Famous Potato Rolls will go bad as soon as that day passes. On the contrary, the company's website states that its breads will last "a long time" if properly stored.

Martin's recommends keeping its products in a cool, dark location at room temperature and storing the bread in its original packaging (or wrapping it in plastic wrap or foil in the absence of the original bag). An old-school storage method like a breadbox is an excellent way to keep the potato rolls fresh, but they shouldn't be kept near heat-emitting appliances like microwaves.

While Martin's doesn't recommend storing its breads in the refrigerator, the brand's baked goods do freeze beautifully, which greatly extends their longevity. "We've even done taste tests[,] and most people can't tell the difference between rolls/bread that have been frozen for a couple months and fresh product," the company's website states. The frozen rolls simply need to be fully thawed inside the bag prior to opening, to ensure all the moisture is reabsorbed.

Once thawed, the rolls can be consumed as is or can be toasted, steamed, or grilled before pairing with your favorite burger recipe, hot dog brand, or sandwich fixings. One quality the company touts is that its breads absorb condiments and meat juices without becoming soggy in the process, making them a resilient vehicle for various types of sammies. So, slather up that Martin's Famous roll to your heart's content on your next cookout — as long as you buy it fresh or store it properly, you're in for a soft, pillowy eating experience.