I've been tying to reduce the bench flour I'm using so as not to mess with the hydration levels of my dough. THis weekend I experimented with VERY LIGHTLY spraying just a tiny bit of olive oil on my marble board when I take the dough out of the KA to do the final bit of kneading and rounding (note I am not doing ALL the keading on an oiled board, just those little bits of kneading or S & F for rounding before bulk fermentation).
This seems to be working quite well and I can put the dough to rise in the bucket without having to add any oil on top to keep the cover from sticking. I usually only need to use any oil at all during the bulk fermentation. I usually find that there is sufficient gluten structure for the final shaping without the need for additional flour or oil.
I was wondering if anybody has any comments about this method. I'm not sure I would use it when the goal is a very lean dough, but for most breads this seems to work well without any bad "side effects".
I use the method you describe for several of the breads I bake without ill effect.
Water also works in place of bench flour.
Jeff
In his book the Handmade Loaf, Dan Lepard suggests rubbing a small amount of oil on the kneading surface instead of dusting with extra flour. Too much flour can upset the hydration balance more so than a light coating of oil.