I have been making challah regularly for 25 years, kneading it by hand and letting it rise for the first time for about an hour, 30 minutes for the second rise after it is shaped.]. I always use kitchen towels to cover the bowl and then the loaves. I grease the bowl with a tiny bit of oil and put the dough in and then flip it around so it is lightly greased on all sides. I have never had skin form on the dough. I do find that my dough rises higher when I am in Arizona than when I am on the East Coast which I have always attributed to the lack of humidity in Arizona.

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