Rising overnight in fridge

Since I am new to artisan bread making I usually set my dough overnight but just out on the counter.  I keep hearing over and over about set the dough in the fridge overnight.  I recently just put some dough I made for pizza in the fridge.  First I let it rise and then put it in the fridge.  Next morning it had flattened out and it did not have much rise to it.  I made the same dough again and did not do the overnight thing but just used it and it was much nicer.  Perhaps my mistake is to let it rise first, but I was following some one else's recipe.  I would like to know what the experts here say about this as well.

The answer is yes and no, really. It depends on the recipe (sourdough or yeast? White flour or whole grain? Sweetener or no sweetener? Etc.) and also on the conditions in your house (temperature, humidity, etc.) I just made a large batch of my deli-style rye bread. I made a batch a couple of weeks ago where I shaped the loaves then put them in the fridge overnight to proof. They were very over-proofed and flat without a lot of oven spring. Last week I made a small batch where I just left the dough in the bowl overnight on the counter in the basement kitchen (fairly cool down there), and the dough was absolutely perfect the next morning - smooth, springy and with a nice dome on the ball of dough. I then shaped them, proofed for about 45 minutes and baked them, and they were nearly perfect. Last night I did the same (though for a much larger batch) - left it to bulk ferment in the same basement kitchen overnight. This morning it was obviously over-proofed - it had risen then collapsed and was a wet, stringy, sticky mess. Shaping has been a nightmare and the first batch is now in the oven with the next two batches rising on the counter or in the fridge. Go figure...

For a while I was very sceptic about performing second/final rise in the fridge. However, after trying it several times I was nicely surprised. My biggest fear was that the dough will become even more acidic and I don't like such dough.

My normal practice is that I retard immediately after shaping. Sometimes, when I know that I will bake within 5 to 6 hours I let the dough outside after shaping for a while between 30 to 60 minutes and then retard. I bake directly from the fridge in iron cast skillet.

When you put the dough in the fridge it takes at least one to two hours to cool down (depends on your proofing basket - here I have in mind the banneton). Therefore whole grain dough should be retarded immediately after shaping while some other dough needs short proofing time on room temp.

Cold retarded dough is much more stiff and easier to score and don't spread so much. Beside this you can leave the dough in the fridge much longer and thus resolve your schedule issues.

Happy baking, Joze

Try a few loaves each way, see what / how much differences there is to your palate, and gauge how much the difference in convenience is worth to you. 

Note as well that you don't have to choose one way and stick with it forever. Maybe you'll find you prefer one way for your normal everyday baking but the other when your time is more flexible, for special occasion and gift loaves, etc. 

Hi, Eclarner, after years of trial-and-error, I found that "shape, refrigerate overnight, then bake" is the most efficient process with consistent and ideal results. 

If you wish, you can peek at my video on youtube, skip to 5:05 to see the ""shape, refrigerate overnight, then bake" parts. 

Hope this helps!