There are a ton of small, tedious steps when making dough.
Sometimes it’s unclear which steps are super-duper important–and which you could easily skip.
So should you cover dough while proofing?
Yes. Almost all dough should be covered in the proofing phase. This is necessary for keeping moisture in the bowl (preventing drying out), properly allowing your dough to expand and rise, and developing as much flavor and structure as possible. You can use cling wrap, a wet towel, or a lid.
Luckily, covering your dough is fairly easy.
Here’s a quick breakdown of WHY covering your dough matters so much (because it does).
Let’s go.
Why Do I Need to Cover Dough?
The short answer is “so your dough will properly rise.”
Whether you’re making bread or pizza dough–a dried-out surface can stiffen up and prevent the dough from expanding, rising, etc.
In order to have the best structure (and shape and texture) of your dough, sealing in moisture is key!
This goes double for lower-hydration dough, i.e. anything under 65-70% hydration. These dough balls will dry out even faster.
Covering your dough prevents air from drying out the surface, allowing your pizza or bread to properly rise and expand!
NOTE: Covering your dough is even more important for the initial, “bulk” proof. This is when your yeast is really starting to activate faster. If you left your dough uncovered in the “final” proof (after it had been resting for 12-48 hours), the drying out wouldn’t make as much of a difference.
Should I Cover Dough With Plastic Wrap, a Towel, or a Lid?
There are several methods for covering your dough, but plastic “cling wrap” probably does the best job at sealing in moisture.
That said, cling wrap is finicky and cost more money, so here are a few other alternatives:
| Plastic Wrap | If you have cling wrap and it fits your bowl/tray, it’s probably your best option. |
| Wet towel | This won’t keep quite as much air out, but a simple tea towel or hand towel, soaked in hot water, will keep moisture in (this is especially true in higher-humidity rooms) |
| A lid | If you have an air-tight lid that fits your bowl or proofing tray, this works as well. The more air-tight the better! |
| Flip the bowl upside down | You can also place your dough on the countertop and place the mixing bowl upside down on top of it. I personally don’t recommend this. What if you want to move your dough? Cold proof? What if your counter stays cold? |
Here’s what I personally do for longer proofs:
- Bulk Proof (2-3 hours): keep the dough in the bowl and cover with a wet, warm towel
- Cold proof (12-48 hours): I will often transfer my dough to some cheap proofing trays that came with nice lids, and place it in the fridge.
For NY-style or Neapolitan pizza dough, proofing trays are worth it!
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What Is Dough “Proofing?”
Proofing, sometimes just referred to as “fermenting,” is the process of allowing your mixed dough to rest and rise untouched.
After mixing and kneading, the yeast starts to activate and eat the sugars (and creating air bubbles of carbon dioxide), triggering lots of chemical reactions that start to develop the flavor and structure of your dough.
This is called the “proofing phase,” and can last anywhere from 30 minutes to 72 hours (depending on what kind of dough, bread, or pizza you’re making)!
NOTE: If you think your pizza dough isn’t rising (proofing) properly, here are some things to check.
There are different types of proofing.
Depending on what you’re making, there are several different phases and methods for proofing dough.
- Bulk Proof – This generally happens just after mixing and kneading, where you let the entire mixture proof in one big ball.
- Cold Proof – You can “retard” or “slow down” the development phase by proofing dough in the refrigerator. This can yield even more complex flavors! You can cold-proof the dough in bulk, or separated into balls.
- Final Proof – this refers to the last chunk of time just before you bake your dough. If you cold-proofed your dough, you’ll need at least a few hours to allow the dough to return to room temperature!
RELATED reading: Do I need to proof store-bought dough?
Do I Need to Place Oil on Top of My Dough?
Another common practice in pizza and bread-making is to cover your dough in oil during the proofing phase.
Oil creates a “moisture barrier” of sorts, which will help your dough to expand, stretch, and develop!
Yes, you should likely rub a small amount of oil over your dough prior to the first proofing phase!
The first 2-3 hours of the “bulk proofing” phase is when the yeast is most active, and the oil is just another helpful part of maintaining moist dough that rises & expands properly.
Do you need to oil the entire bowl, or just the top of the dough?
This depends on the dough you’re making, and your personal preference.
- For longer bulk proofing, I will generally cover all sides of my pizza dough in extra-virgin olive oil.
- For shorter bulk proofing (where I’ll divide my dough before transferring to a different proofing tray), I’ll generally just pour a bit of oil on top of the dough and spread it around with my fingers.
What Types of Dough Do NOT Need Covering?
There might actually be a few types of dough that do not need to be covered, for various reasons:
- Unleavened dough – “Unleavened” is “non-fermented” dough that doesn’t use yeast, etc. Pie crust, pasta dough, puff-pastries, etc. These doughs don’t need time to rise at all.
- Extremely high hydration doughs – The lower the hydration (50-60%), the more it’s vital to cover your dough. For 70-75%+ hydration doughs, it’s probably less vital (but I’d still recommend it anyways!)
Additionally, there might be some bread recipes that suggest NOT covering your dough during the final proofing phases, to intentionally build up a certain type of crust or maintain a certain shape.
But outside of that, 99.9% of pizza and bread doughs should be covered and oil to proof!
Does Dough Rise Faster Covered or Uncovered?
Although dough won’t necessarily rise faster being covered, it will certainly rise better.
Rise time is a bigger result of the amount of yeast you include in your dough recipe, but covering your dough will help the dough stay moist (which will prevent the outer surface from drying up, which could prevent the structure of your dough and cause it to rise slower).
In fact, better taste and structure often come from forcing dough to rise slower, i.e. cold-proofing the dough in the refrigerator.
Summary: Does Covering Your Dough Matter?
Yes, you should definitely cover and oil your dough during the proofing phase!
It helps to seal in moisture and prevent your dough from drying out (which could hamper it’s development).
I recommend investing in some proofing trays (or proofing bowls), and some plastic cling wrap of course 😉
Happy proofing, pizza nerds!