Why does nobody talk about greasing the bowl instead of flouring it | Bread Baking Basics

Pat Hart · 2026-10-17T14:20:03.676546+00:00

I kept watching my dough turn into a shaggy mess during the first rise, and last week I finally figured out why. A friend who bakes sourdough in her kitchen in Ames told me to wipe the bowl with a teaspoon of oil instead of dusting it with flour, and the dough stopped sticking to the sides completely. I tried it three times that week, and every loaf came out with a smoother top and none of that dry flour crust forming on the bottom. The flour was soaking up moisture from the dough while it sat, which was throwing off my rise time by about 20 minutes each batch. Has anyone else switched to oil and noticed the crust comes out differently?

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Why does nobody talk about greasing the bowl instead of flouring it | Bread Baking Basics - The Community Guide