I've been home sick this week which leaves me plenty of time to wonder about things.  I have had sucess with long ferments but had never compared overnight ferment in bulk vs overnight ferment after shaping.  I decided to try an experiment so I created a formula for a sourdough and made two loaves, one with each approach.  The results are in but to tell you the truth, with the approach to fermentation being the only variable I could not taste a discernable difference in the loaves.  Both have a similar crust and crumb, however I got better oven spring out of the one overnight fermented in bulk.  That was about the only difference.  I'd like to try this experiment again, hey I get to eat the results after all.  From what I learned so far with flavors being equal I'd prefer to overnight ferment in bulk to avoid the occasional stuck loaf.

Why I am really posting though is to pose this question to the group.  Which approach to retarding do you prefer, and why?  Have you done any comparisons and noticed a difference in flavor from loaves from the same formula?

Can't resist posting without a few pics from the results of my experiments: