I know this seems like it should be obvious; calculating bread dough hydration isn't rocket science. My recipe is 600 g of flour, 270 g of water, 57 g of butter, 46 g of honey, 1.5 tsp of salt, 2 tsp of yeast. Salt and yeast are in tsp because at those light weights, there's a significant difference in volume in fractional grams but the idea is 6g of yeast and 7g of salt.
I've read that butter and honey both have about 18% water so I add that to the water and I end up with 48% hydration. Everything I read says this is way too low. The dough in the bread machine seems very moist and is quite sticky. I used a batch for making hamburger buns, using the dough cycle, and it was so sticky and wet I couldn't work with it. But baked in the machine, the bread comes out pretty good, rising to within 1/2 inch of the machine lid and it holds up well to slicing, sandwiches, etc.
So, what gives? Is my calculation wrong or is there some reason I'm succeeding at 48% and, at 48%, the dough is very wet and sticky?
I also make sour dough bread at higher hydration, about 60%, without the breadmaker but it is never as sticky as the bread machine recipe - using the same flour. The flour is Montana All Purpose Flour - a premium flour sold at Walmart.
Is this experience normal or am I doing, measuring, calculating, something wrong?