[lemonaki]

There ARE so many variations, and preferences. I like baklava crisp, so it shatters in the mouth. My (Greek) husband insisted that the syrup be poured over BEFORE baking, but that makes a totally different dessrt that was similar to a regional sweet called something else... I also like clarified butter, usually mixed with some oil - the butter solids, if you get down to the dregs when you are brushing the top layer - the milk will bake darker and look "spotty"... and the baklava can end up soggy, too much moisture.
I was in a hurry once, making baklava for 300 and skipped the cloves - but was baking in a convection oven. What a disaster, I had crispy little bits of phyllo blocking the fan and all over! Ha!
(I hadn't noticed how long ago this was posted, when I joined this, oh well)

[LindaT]

After years of making baklava by brushing butter on the layers, I tried filling a small inexpensive pump sprayer half full of melted butter and then used that to spray the butter on the phyllo dough layers. I keep the bottle in a container of hot water while making the baklava to keep the butter melted, changing out the hot water frequently. The sprayer cleans up in the dishwasher & by pumping a little hot water through the sprayer when done with the butter.