Technical things to consider.
I try to keep things as simple as I can when creating recipes and using various principles. If you have watched my cold bulk fermentation guide, then you know that I stick to 1% instant dry yeast for that method. My fridge is around 5C (41F), and I know that with that amount of yeast the dough will ferment well in as little as 12 hours.
When I started playing around with cold proofing, I decided to also use 1% yeast and as it turns out it works perfectly. My loaves are fully proofed in 12 hours.
So, your first step would be to find out how much yeast is required to bulk ferment a dough in your fridge in a certain amount of time. Then, use the same amount of yeast for cold proofing and work from there.
If you have never fermented dough in the fridge, then I would highly suggest starting with cold bulk fermentation because it is simpler, and you will get a better feel for how the dough is rising.
Final dough temperature is extremely important. We are using less yeast, so the dough will ferment more slowly, but we still want to aim for the same temperature that we would aim for in any other recipe. So, if your kitchen is cool, then make it warmer. If it’s warm, then make it cooler. 24C – 26C (75F – 79F) is generally a range I stick to. Your ideal range will depend on the temperature of your kitchen.
Bulk fermentation time should be slightly reduced in most cases. The doughs in the video were fermented for 1 hour and 20 minutes before being divided and shaped.
If you are making a bread that requires pre-shaping, resting, and final shaping, then the bulk fermentation time should be reduced further to make up for the resting time.
If the dough seems to ferment rapidly for any reason, then cut the fermentation time down. We really do not want to ferment the dough too much before it goes in the fridge because it will take time to cool down and while it is cooling it will continue to rise rapidly.
Refrigerate the dough right after final shaping.
Less yeast, less time, same dough temperature.
