Brioche not getting to windowpane, bread is greasy and flaky
Hey everyone. I've been trying to make brioche the traditional/authentic way but I can't seem to get enough gluten. I've been using this recipe. https://www.rainbownourishments.com/vegan-brioche-buns/ and I usually get great results with it, but now instead of melting the butter, I'm adding it in as whole cold chunks. The problem is that my brioche is coming out terribly. When forming balls, the bread doesn't have enough gluten so they're dimpled like golf balls, they're not fluffy, they're dry and biscuit like in texture. So I tried again a second time and this time I took care to try to develop the gluten a lot more before adding in the butter, but I couldn't get a good windowpane even after mixing for like 15 minutes total with a rest time between mixing in the stand mixer. Why is it that when I add the butter in melted my buns come out great, but adding it in cold turns them into an underdeveloped no gluten wrinkled mess? Any advice on how to develop the gluten in an enriched dough? Thanks!
Can you elaborate on your 15 minutes total with rest time?
How fast are you running your mixer?
How cold is the cold butter?
Yeah so i did 6 minutes initially, at speed 2 until it all came together then at speed 4. Then i rested for about 5 minutes, mixed for 7 minutes then rested for 10 minutes. Then i added in the butter for a minute and let it rest for half and hour before putting it back on the stand mixer for the final minute at speed 4 because i still wasnt satisfied with the gluten after the short rest.
The butter was around 38 degrees farenheit
When I make enriched doughs in my KitchenAid, I mix at speed 2 until it's incorporated, let it rest for 30 minutes, then mix at speed 4 for 10 minutes to get the window pane. After that I add the butter, but it's a cool softened butter - around 65F - and I add it about 1 Tbsp at a time while mixing at speed 4, which takes at least another 5 minutes.
So I think you might just need more mixing time.
Yeah I think you're absolutely correct. Increasing the mix time and using warmer butter sounds like the right move here. All signs point to those being my two mistakes so thank you.
If your butter is that cold you are not really integrating the butter into the dough. You are creating small pockets of cold butter that then releases steam as it bakes and makes a more biscuit-like texture.
The recipe you linked to is similar to a recipe I use except mine has eggs. I've never had a problem getting a good windowpane in my KA mixer but my butter is cool and soft-not hard and cold. It could also be that you need a little more moisture in your dough. Try adding some additional liquid. I generally mix all the ingredients except the butter and develop to windowpane. I've never timed it-I suppose it could be 8-10 minutes?? Then I add the butter in over a few minutes and end up with a really soft,silky dough.
On some days dough needs less liquid and other days it needs more. It just depends on the humidity in the air and in the flour. I consider recipes a suggestion when it comes to bread. Also, you need to have a flour that has adequate protein so it CAN develop gluten. Try a bread flour and see if there is any difference. You may need a little more liquid as bread flour generally IS thirstier.
These are good tips thank you. How much butter do you typically use in your brioche? I've always wanted to make a decadent super high percentage of butter but I'm afraid it'll be gross, but I've seen brioche as high as 80% (bakers pecentage) which seems super wild haha.
Why did you change the method to incorporate butter?
Read Bruno Albouze's brioche recipe and video. That's the way to do it.
Oh I just wanted to see if there was a difference between melted and non melted butter just for the knowledge. It's hard to try and emulate non vegan recipes that use eggs because I'm not sure how to approximate eggs to an accurate vegan substitute in terms of liquid and fat.
So I've been experimenting with brioche again. I've added a mix until formed+30 minute rest+10ish minute mix for gluten development (getting a windowpane)+10 minute rest before adding the room temp butter. This is sorta working out great but the problem is, adding the butter completely breaks down my gluten. My Dough no longer windowpanes and it easily tears in my hand. Even with added stretch and folds and rubaud mixing it doesn't seem to return to its strength pre butter. Is this normal or do I need to develop even more gluten before adding butter? Thanks! Also I should note I'm only adding 32% butter in bakers percentage compared to the 40% I see most commonly used.