To warm up after retarding or not?
Here's a question for those of you folks out there who bake sourdough breads and use cold-retardation overnight in a fridge, like I do.
In the past, I always pull my loaf in a banneton out of the fridge and let it sit on a counter for up to an hour, while I am busy with other stuff, oven pre-heats, etc. It always worked fine for me, although the dough certainly spreads a bit once I remove it from the banneton and start scoring. The other day, I forgot to remove the dough from the fridge, and remembered only when it was time to put it in the oven. The dough was obviously cold, felt tight, which made scoring easier, and it held shape better. It baked just as well as always.
Then I remembered that some people here, while describing their recipes, mentioned that they too bake cold, straight out of the fridge. And today, on a different site, I found this phrase: "You should score it cold, and DO NOT need to let it come to room temp."
And so my question to experienced bakers out there is: To let or not to let [the dough to warm up]? Does it make a difference in the end? What's your take on this?
Thanks!