I had never oiled my mixing bowl for the first rise. But when I started making focaccia, some of the recipes called for oiling the bowl. I figured that with olive oil already in the dough, a little more on the outside couldn't matter. And I found that the added oil did make getting the risen dough out of the bowl much easier. I'm also guessing that oiling the bowl (and thus the dough) for the first rise is extra insurance against a crust forming on the dough, which would inhibit if not prevent the dough from rising properly.
But then I also remember reading somewhere that adding oil to a dough can inhibit yeast activity, because the oil coats the yeast and prevents it from accessing the sugars in the dough. Is that accurate? It certainly didn't seem to stop my oil-infused focaccia from rising!
So I'm wondering about oiling the bowl/dough even for recipes that don't include any oil or other fat in the dough. If I sprayed a very small amount of PAM on the bowl, would that affect a lean dough in some way, or wouldn't it matter? Seth
In my breads and on my bowls . I have never had a diminished rise of dough. Sometimes I wish it had slowed it down lol!😂.
There’s nothing about the oil that is going to slow yeast activity at least in my 50 odd years of baking I’ve yet to see it.
As a choice use a “ real” product not PAM. 👍
Thanks for the advice on the oil and also on the PAM. I was trying to get a very small amount of oil on the bowl easily, and figured a spritz of PAM was the way to go. But you're right, I probably could use a better oil, even if it's just a small amount. Seth
You can get spray bottles that are just oil. But the oil on the bowl is probably not going to be the biggest share of the oil in your focaccia.
A silicone dough scraper, wetted, and a little practice can get a dough cleanly out of the bowl sans oil, if you prefer.
At the amount used the end product won't be much - if at all - different. Don't forget - flour absorbes water. By the time you get to it it'll be gone. Enjoy!
That can happen if you use dry yeast without dissolving it completely first. It definitely happens with butter, and it's very obvious. It does not however stop yeast from working, it slows it down a bit and makes the dough look ugly. I don't remember ever seeing it with oil.
A paper came out with measurements of the effect of oil on dough. I don't have a link but it's been mentioned on TFL several times. For the kind of wheat bread they were testing, 2% oil gave the smallest loaf volume, and up to 10% gave more volume. But but depends on the type of oil. From a TFL post, a comment by gary.turner:
(https://weightloss-slim.fit/comment/183368#comment-183368%3C/a%3E):%3C/p%3E%3Cblockquote%3E%3Cp%3E"In reference to the fat conundrum, lipids end up replacing the protein film that surrounds the CO₂ bubble. Polar lipid molecules stabilize the gas bubbles to a greater degree than the proteins. From 0% to about 2% by weight, all fats reduces loaf volume. The hypothesis is that at these low levels, the film is mixed protein/lipid and is less stable than either alone. From 2% to about 10%, loaf volume increases with increased polar lipids. Non-polar lipids have a more deleterious effect on loaf volume as the amount of non-polar lipids is increased.
Generally polar lipids include saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids. Non-polar lipids include polyunsaturated fatty acids. Lard, butter, egg yolks, olive oil and coconut oil are high in polar lipids, as are all dairy; thus improve loaf volume. Canola (who can stand the taste anyway?), corn, sunflower and soybean oils, margarine, and vegetable shortening all have high levels of non-polar lipids, which reduce loaf volume.
I used to do it when I started out - because the books said so. These days I ferment directly in the mixing bowl and don't bother with it. The only exception is long-fermentation pizza dough that I divvy up between several plastic bags and toss in the fridge. Those I oil to help with release.