Bread making, lightly oiled bowl covered, why?
Every dough recipe I have ever seen follows the same paradigm. Mix ingredients, kneed, rest, kneed, roll into a ball and place in a lightly oiled covered bowl, separate and form. Allow to rise again, bake.
I don’t understand the significance of the bowl step. Why the ball? Maximizing surface area? How does the oil help? Is that just to stop it from sticking to the bowl? Why the bowl? Why cover it? Is this to limit oxygen? Bread yeast shouldn’t need anaerobic production should it?
Best Answer
The bowl is simply to contain the dough. You can use any container you like. Depending on the type of bread you are making, you often need to build gluten strength, this ends with pre-shaping and shaping. Shaping matters at this point. With kneaded bread, the "ball" is simply an artifact of kneading or stretching and folding. Covering reduces the chance of the surface drying out, and helps maintain temperature. Oil in the bowl is not necessary in most situations, and is not part of "every recipe."
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Quick Answer about "Bread making, lightly oiled bowl covered, why?"
Keep the bread dough covered to protect the dough from drying out and keep off dust. Place your rising dough in a warm, draft-free place in the kitchen while it's rising. Too much heat will speed up the yeast activity, and too much cold air will slow it down.Why does bread dough need to be covered?
In most circumstances covering dough during proofing is the best practice, as it helps keep moisture in your dough. Without covering dough, the surface is likely to dry out which will limit the rise you are looking to achieve during proofing, and it can negatively impact your crust.Why do you cover bread when it rises?
The reasoning behind it is that body heat is lost mainly through one's head and that a new mother needs to preserve her body heat to recover. Keeping your head covered is believed to prevent any body heat from escaping.What do you cover bread dough with?
So what is the best way to cover bread dough while it's rising? The best way to cover bread dough while it's rising is by using a cloth such as a large clean tea towel or proving cloth to cover the bowl while it rises. This same cloth can also be used to cover dough directly when it's proving.Does oil prevent dough from rising?
Not using an oiled bowl: You need to let doughs rise in a bowl that's lightly coated with a neutral oil, such as corn or canola. This prevents the dough from sticking and tearing when it's removed, which can ruin its gluten structure.The 7 Most Common Breadmaking Mistakes You’re Probably Making
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Answer 2
If a crust forms on the dough while it is rising, the rising will be inhibited. So the outside of the dough should be soft and moist the whole time. Two ways to ensure this are to put it in a bowl with some kind of lid (plastic wrap, damp towel, or a plate or hard lid), and to coat the outside of the dough lightly in oil which prevents it from drying out. So the usual process is to form a ball, roll it around in a small amount of oil to coat it, then put it in the bowl and cover it.
I think that creating some surface tension in the dough also helps, so I form it into a ball by pulling the edges of the ball towards the bottom and pinching them together.
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