Forgiving or not

As i have learned in my Baking class, when you proof a dough in the fridge, it just takes a lot longer to proof than if you had put it in a warm area.  Hope this helps.

[quote=Kiwi baker]

 HI

I am relatively new to to using sour dough and while I have had a reasonably good level of results I am somewhat confused between books and articles which tell me it is unforgiving and you need to do everything precisely and at specific times others tell me that it is very forgiving and that it does not matter if the dough remains in the fridge for longer or if both the bulk prove and the final prove both take place in the fridge.

Part of my rationale for asking is that I would like to bake more than on the weekend when I am not at work but when obeying the timetable I can only start on Saturday and have to get up really early to bake on Sunday before I can go for a bike ride!

Look forward to hearing the comments of experts!

[/quote]

Definitely jump in and find ways to make the bread work around your own schedule, and more than likely you'll get very good results. Many recipes tell you to do this and that at specific times, but of course your starter will more more or less active than that of the person who wrote the recipe, especially as ambient temperature changes with the seasons. Whenever you want to delay things, use the fridge. I also find it handy to make a double batch of ciabatta regularly, putting most of them in the freezer, so that I'm never without good fresh bread.

Have fun!

I bake mainly sourdough bread from a 100% hydration starter and a 50% one.  I find that, with the help of my friend the fridge, baking sourdough can be a far more flexible process that baking yeasted breads.