HELP - Cold Proof Question

I would proof in the refrigerator until I was ready to bake then take it out and continuing the proof until the bread had sufficiently risen.  Then I would immediately score and bake, not freeze.

Ford

with your procedure. I bake right out of the fridge as I get better oven spring doing that rather than continuing proof on the counter after the fridge. I don't think that my tastes buds aren't refined enough to know whether a bread has been retarded 12 or 24 hours but then again, I haven't done a side by side test. As well, I am not fond of overly sour bread so I like to keep it on the sweet side.

 what temp is your fridge set at? It seems unusual to me that you're not getting any rise during your cold proof. Is your fridge very cold? 

I'd say do a 24-hr cold proof, take it out while your oven warms up, let it sit on the counter just while your oven heats up, then bake. In my limited experience, that seems to be the safest in terms of hitting the sweet spot of not being underproofed, but also getting a decent oven spring. Of course, a million different factors can change that, but it might be a good place to start? 

Also, what kind of bread you got going? Some doughs just don't get the same rise during the second ferment that others do.

I struggled to get it out of the banneton afterwards so I don't think I will do that again.  It was 80% hydration but to be really effective I think you would need to leave in longer and I don't want to go there.  I had hoped to be able to score more easily but it wasn't a huge improvement over just retarding in the fridge.

Leslie

is that the crumb for this loaf or is that still coming?

Leslie

Extended cold proofing has become my the norm for my white breads, and I've taken it to the extreme with good results. After incorporating the starter and getting the dough together, I try to get a few stretch and folds in quickly so that the dough doesn't get a chance to do much rising or gain momentum before or during refrigeration. Then I'll keep it in there for as many as 5 or 6 nights, but 3 nights seems to be the sweet spot where I still get decent oven spring while enjoying the flavor and texture of what I call a "3-nighter." The long-fermented breads can end up with some really nice blistering too. 

With a big dough ball, I can cut off enough in the morning for one bread and proof it in the banneton at room temp for dinnertime baking. Then I can keep the rest of the dough ball in the fridge for more nights. And I often form a boule and let the fridge-rested dough proof in a banneton to 50% or 75% or more before refrigerating overnight again; that way I can bake right when I wake up or very early the next day. 

Results for each bread are obviously are going to depend on the speediness of the starter used. Sometimes the dough expands more than I want in the first night, so I don't let it hang around too much longer and possibly overproof. The refrigerator pretty much gives me a huge amount of flexibility when planning/timing bakes, but I believe it also creates nice flavor and texture when you age the dough. A stiffer dough helps if I'm planning on some 5-nighters that could start to lose their strength. If you keep an eye on things and use all of your tricks like prebake freezer treatment, seam-side-down proofing, etc, the refridgerator is a great tool that can improve breads and make timing a lot easier. Here's one that chilled for a few nights and got really blistery.