The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Does transferring the dough to an oiled bowl serve a purpose?

mikehartigan's picture
mikehartigan

Does transferring the dough to an oiled bowl serve a purpose?

I've usually followed the instructions and transferred the dough to an oiled bowl after kneading for the first rise.  Lately, I've simply been pulling out the dough hook and covering the bowl with plastic wrap secured by a rubber band, then scraping it out later for shaping.  It's faster, it's easier, it's one less vessel to clean, and the mixing bowl is big enough that the dough doesn't stick to whatever I'm covering the bowl with.  The end product doesn't appear to be any different than when I use the more traditional method.

Am I missing something?  Does rising in a separate bowl serve a purpose, the result of which is below my subtlety detection skill?  Or is it just to free up the mixing bowl?  (or is this simply a scam perpetrated by P&G to sell more Dawn Dish Soap?).  It works, so, unless there's some perceived benefit, I plan to continue doing it this way.

Ford's picture
Ford

If it works for you, it's right.  The oiled bowl is for people who are having problems transferring the risen dough (especially high hydration dough) back to the bench for sizing and shaping.

Ford

mikehartigan's picture
mikehartigan

...it seems that doing it this way may be a sign that I'm getting better at this craft!  Awesome!  For my next trick -- Wonder Bread! :)  (that's a vague reference to another thread)

FWIW, a plastic bowl scraper was one of the biggest bang-for-the-buck tools I ever bought.

 

Janet Yang's picture
Janet Yang
drogon's picture
drogon

almost - what I do when mixing in the small mixer is (unless I need it again in the time-frame) is to tip the dough out, using a plastic scraper with a curved end - use it to get all the little bits of dough out the bowl  - then give it a very quick hand-knead to tighten it into a ball, then back into the mixer bowl with a shower-cap on-top. (Or one of those silicon covers)

I have several of the plastic scrapers - really handy, so I'm never without one to-hand near my workbench.

-Gordon

mikehartigan's picture
mikehartigan

Does tightening it into a ball serve any purpose at that point, in terms of the final product?  As I said, skipping this step doesn't seem to make a difference, but it could be that my technique is such that other not yet quite perfect factors are obscuring whatever benefit I would get from this step. I'd prefer to not leave any meaningful stones unturned, but neither do I want to waste my energy on the meaningless ones. 

drogon's picture
drogon

But thinking now - I do it because I've always done it - as in always put a lump of dough into a bowl after I've chaffed it into a ball....

It probably stems from making bread entirely by hand - mix in a bowl, tip it out, using any dry flour to "wipe" the bowl clean, mix/knead on bench, transfer ball back into bowl, cover, etc ... So I'm just doing the same when I use the mixer.

So it probably doesn't have any affect on the end result whatsoever, but I get a good feeling out of doing it... Or something like that! Maybe I just don't like raggy dough in a bowl or something. Bakers OCD :-)

-Gordon

tgrayson's picture
tgrayson

When I took a course at San Francisco Baking Institute, I asked the instructor this and he didn't seem to know this was even a thing.

The only argument that I know for it is that dough will ferment faster the more it resembles a ball vs a disk. The mass effect, I think.

tptak's picture
tptak

When I work with strong flour, what I often do is add some oil into the bowl, get it round the edge of the dough and then use the scraper to transfer it to the bottom of the bowl - pretty much same as putting the dough into an oiled bowl, just one bowl less :)

PalwithnoovenP's picture
PalwithnoovenP

I knead and bulk ferment my dough in the same container to lessen stuff I need to clean. 

GAPOMA's picture
GAPOMA

Me too.  I hate dishes.

estherc's picture
estherc

I like to rise my dough in a glass measuring bowl. I can tell when its doubled more accurately and I like being able to see the progress of the gas bubbles. 

People who do the FWSY method, using hands to mix dough are doing the first rise in the mixing container. Do what works for you and don't worry about right and wrong. Its as much an art as a science.