Submitted by berryblondeboys on October 21, 2010 - 5:18am

Why does bread need to go into an oiled bowl to rise?


Maybe I'm doing something totally faux pas, but I never oil the bowl for rising. I mix and knead in the dlx mixing bowl, I remove the hook or the scraper and roller, and then I shape it a bit so I can when it has  doubled, and then I put the DLX bowl lid over top. When it's doubled, I just grab the mass, and only a tiny bit sticks, I scrape that up, add it to the rest and then fold it a few times for shaping or the second rise, whichever it needs.

Am I 'missing' something by not adding oil? I guess I just don't see why it's needed? Maybe I'm allowing too much air into the dough?

Filed under:

It doesn't

Some people like the "no stick" quality that oiling the bowl (or tub) brings.

Others find the minor amout of stickage to be no problem.

If it isn't broken - don't fix it.

meh

Whether or not I oil the bowl depends entirely on how sticky the dough is. A very wet dough will get some oil, a dough that's relatively dry will not get oil.

I usually find its a waste of

I usually find its a waste of good oil.  Generally as I take the dough in and out, it'll stick to the bowl a bit no-matter what.  All I get out of the deal is that I have to wash oil and dough out of the bowl at the end of the night ;-P

user icon

No waste

I bulk retard my doughs in square plastic containers in the fridge overnight. The few times I forgot to mist the containers with oil spray, it was much more difficult to transfer the dough to the countertop the next day - it stuck more and came out only with some effort, degassing more, too.

The same can be said for the Pain a l'Ancienne dough - it is much easier to empty the big metal bowl out after a night in the fridge, if it was oiled before.

Karin

 

 

High Hydration

I am a big ciabatta baker.  Ciabatta is 80-90 percent hydration, even higher!  No oil in the bowl, no way are you getting the dough out without completely deflating it.  Even with the oil one needs to use a scraper to coax it out!!!

If no oil works for your dough, I would say you are doing nothing wrong.

Greg

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.