This weekend I make two different batches of brioche dough using the same recipe. One I added vanilla beans and browned the butter (it was a little colder than room temp when i used it) and the other i added orange zest thats the only difference. I made both doughs using a stand mixer and switching between the paddle and dough hook. I waited until it passed the windowpane test (about 15 minutes) before adding the butter. I added the butter in small additions and kneaded using the paddle at the beginning and switching to the hook. I kneaded it until it passed the windowpane test once again (about 20 minutes) before letting it rise for an hour. i knock the air out of it and leave it covered the fridge overnight. The orange dough ended up very sticky after chilling and rised a lot. I had to freeze it to work with it. the vanilla bean one didnt rise to much but was very sturdy and easy to work with. After shaping i let rest for an hour covered and then bake it. They both turned out the same but the vanilla bean one was much easier to work with. Im wondering why one dough was so much easier to work with.
recipe
80ml milk warmed up with zest of 4 oranges
400g all purpose flour
7g yeast
65g sugar
8g salt
5 eggs room temp beaten
200g room temp butter.
Butter contains 16-17% water. By browning the butter, you boiled off that water, reducing the hydration of your dough. As I'm sure you know, drier dough is less sticky.
The liquid in your recipe is 80 (milk) + 170 (approx, eggs are about 75% liquid) + 34 (butter) = 284 g. This gives you a hydration of 284 / 400 = 71 %.
With the water removed the butter, the hydration drops to 250 / 400 = 62.5 %, which is quite a big difference.
Sorry, that should be:
With the water removed *from* the butter...