How Long to Proof Sourdough in the Fridge (+ Tips)
How Long to Proof Sourdough in the Fridge (+ Tips)
You’ve mixed your dough, completed your stretch and folds, shaped the dough, and put your soon-to-be-baked dough in a banneton basket.
Now, it’s time to pop that uncooked sourdough loaf in the fridge for the last step: cold proofing (also called cold retard).
How long does your dough need to stay in the fridge before you bake it? I’ve seen recipes call for just 2 hours while others swear by many days.
Let’s talk about it.
The Purpose of Cold Proofing
After you finish your bulk fermentation and shape your dough, why can’t you bake that dough right away?
The short answer: you can skip cold proofing. That would allow you to have same-day sourdough bread.
But putting your shaped dough in the fridge for a while offers a lot of benefits, which is why most of us don’t skip it:
- More complex flavors develop, including those classic sour and tangy notes
- The dough is much easier to score as it firms up a bit, ideal for those interested in intricate, artistic scoring designs
- The yeast breaks down more of the gluten, arguably making the bread easier to digest – anecdotally, an extended cold proof is helpful for those sensitive to gluten (no official studies to confirm this yet, unfortunately)
- The gluten break-down also leads to a lighter, more airy crumb
- Practical for scheduling purposes – you can shape your dough and have ready-to-bake sourdough in your fridge at all times (why wouldn’t you want to be the boss of bake time?!)
Cold Fermentation and Overproofing
Bulk fermentation, or when your dough strengthens, develops flavor, and rises the most, happens at room temperature.
When you put your shaped dough in the fridge, it’s still fermenting but at a much slower rate (like 10x slower).
That’s why many bakers refer to this time in the fridge as a cold retard, retard meaning to slow down.
While the dough isn’t rising very fast, it’s still happening, so there’s a risk of overproofing if you let it go too long. Overproofed dough gets dense and flat, so we definitely want to avoid that!
In my experience, I’ve only had over-proofed sourdough due to cold proofing when I left the dough in the fridge for almost five days.
The Poke Test
To tell if sourdough dough is properly fermented, some people use the “poke test.”
- Underproofed dough: springs back quickly
- Properly proofed dough: springs back slowly
- Overproofed dough: never springs back
However, the poke test will not work during or after a cold retard. The poke test for sourdough is only reliable when the dough is at room temperature.
Ideal Cold Proofing Time Frame
In my experience, my sourdough bread has the best results when I do a cold proof that lasts between 12-36 hours. Overnight is my favorite.
As I mentioned earlier, I recently did a cold proof (accidentally) for nearly five days or around 115 hours, and my dough was over-proofed.
I’d let your cold fermentation go at least 12 hours to enjoy all of the benefits I mentioned earlier, like more complex flavor, potentially easier digestion, lighter crumb, etc.
Two hours is the minimum amount of time to enjoy some of the benefits of cold proofing. But honestly? With that short of a timeframe, I think your main benefit would be that it’s easier to score.
Sourdough is a slow process, and only two hours at cooler temperatures won’t do much.
Cold Fermenting and a Flexible Sourdough Schedule
Use cold fermentation to your advantage, and you’ll be the boss of your bake times.
The beauty of making a lot of dough at one time is you don’t have to bake it all right away. We all love fresh bread, and you can have fresh bread multiple times a week by taking advantage of the fridge’s cold environment.
Here’s a sample schedule:
- Friday night: feed your sourdough starter.
- Saturday: mix your dough, stretch and folds, pre-shape, shape, pop in the fridge.
- Sunday: bake a loaf of sourdough.
- Monday or Tuesday: bake another loaf sourdough.
- Wednesday night: feed your sourdough starter and start the process all over again.
Cold Proofing Tips
I’ve learned a few things about cold proofing over the last year of sourdough baking and experimenting. Sourdough is such a slow burn of knowledge, so I’ll continue updating this post with more tips and information as it comes.
- A super important step is covering your banneton in plastic wrap or (my preference) a bowl cover. Without that, the surface of your dough will dry out, leading a tough exterior.
- Find your own sweet spot by experimenting with different cold retard timeframes. If I’ve learned anything about sourdough, it’s that everyone’s environment is different.
- If you’re sensitive to gluten, push the cold retard as long as you can. I’d recommend trying to let it rest for up to three days, or 72 hours. While there is no scientific proof that an extended cold proof helps with gluten sensitivity, there is a TON of anecdotal evidence. We just need the research to back it up.
You Might Enjoy: 282 Best Sourdough Starter Names: Ideas & Inspiration
Proofing Sourdough In the Fridge FAQs
Here are the most common questions I’ve seen about how long to proof sourdough in the fridge.
How long do you cold ferment sourdough?
I’ve found a cold fermentation of 12-36 hours is ideal. I’ve personally only seen issues (namely over-proofing) occur after four days, or 96 hours, in the fridge.
How long can you cold ferment sourdough?
You can cold ferment sourdough without any issues up to three days, or 72 hours. For those with gluten sensitivities, I’d actually recommend a long cold fermentation like this. It’ll also yield a more complex, tangy flavor profile.
How do you cold ferment sourdough?
To cold ferment sourdough, place your shaped dough in a banneton and cover it with plastic wrap or a bowl cover. Place the covered banneton in the fridge and let it rest there for at least 12 hours, no longer than 96 hours, before baking. That’s it!
Why should you cold ferment sourdough?
Cold fermenting sourdough offers a ton of benefits, including more complex flavors, easier digestion, a lighter crumb, a firmer surface for scoring, and a more flexible baking schedule for the baker.
What do you do after cold fermenting sourdough?
After cold-fermenting your sourdough, you can bake it! Preheat your oven to 475°F with a Dutch oven inside. Pull out your banneton and flip the dough onto parchment paper. Dust the top of your dough with rice flour. Score the top of your dough and place it inside your preheated Dutch oven. Bake for 25 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 425°F, take off the Dutch oven’s lid, and bake for another 20-25 minutes.
When do you cold ferment sourdough?
The cold fermentation is the final step of the sourdough preparation process. During the day, mix your dough ingredients together (bread flour, water, sourdough starter, and salt), complete several rounds of stretch and folds, and wait for the bulk fermentation to finish. Then, pre-shape, final shape, and place your sourdough in a banneton. Finally, you’ll put your covered banneton in the fridge for the cold fermentation.
Does cold proofing make my dough rise more?
Cold proofing might make your dough rise more, but it depends on how warm that dough was to begin with. Warm dough will continue to rise in the fridge until it fully cools down. Cooler dough may not rise at all in the fridge since it doesn’t have that warm head start.
Conclusion
While you can skip the cold retard in the fridge, I recommend letting it rest there for 12-36 hours. The tangy flavors will develop, it’s arguably better for your digestive system, and you can tailor your daily routine much more easily.
Let me know in the comments how long you prefer to proof sourdough in the fridge!
The whole purpose of cold proofing is to allow more time for the organic acids made by the yeast and LABs to react with the alcohol made by the yeast. This develops more bread flavours.
Unfortunately the protease enzymes, which cut up the gluten structure become more active as the acidity of the dough increases. So cold proofing is time limited because ir it is too long the gluten structure is weakened too much causing a tight crumb or dough collapse.
White flour is much lower in protease and so there is a little more leeway, though LABs do produce protease too. With wholemeal flours cold proofing is sometimes not advisable because of the higher levels of this enzyme.
Cold proofing and weakening the gluten structure is one of the ways we get breads with larger holes.
Thanks for the info, I was afraid to proof in the fridge, so this is my first time…. It’s looking good so far!
Would my sourdough bread double in size in the fridge?
I’ve made a sourdough bread (480g total, with 130g of sourdough starter). The first fermentation was at room temperature (20ºC) and took around 13–14 hours to double in size—though I’m not entirely sure because I was asleep.
After shaping the dough, I put it in the fridge. It’s been there for a day and a half, but it doesn’t seem to have grown much. Should I wait for it to double before baking?
Gracias de antemano
Nando from Spain
I don’t anticipate dough to rise much in the fridge, no.
Thanks. Right now, I’m taking it out, and no, it hasn’t risen much at all.4 days exactly.
Ok I’m going to try this 🫣
Hi, so we don’t have to let the dough rise first on the counter after we shaped it before we put in the fridge? This was one I just haven’t been sure about. Also can sandwich bread be fine the same way? Thank you!!! Any helpful tips works be wonderful😊
No you don’t, unless after shaping you feel your bread hasn’t fully proofed. Then, you can “save” it to, so to speak, but letting it rise more on the counter.
What’s the best temperature ( for the refrigerator) for your sourdough?
For food safety, the best refrigerator temperature is generally between 35-38°F (1.7-3.3°C).
When I cold proof…my bread doesn’t seem to rise and it feels too moist.
I want to cold proof because I was told that’s how you get more of a tangy flavor. And I can bake all week from the dough over the weekend.
It’s normal for dough not to rise once it’s in the fridge. If it feels too moist, I’d suggest a wood pulp banneton or lining your banneton with a kitchen towel to absorb surface moisture.
Be sure to check the temperature inside your refrigerator to get a sense of where the extra cold spots are located. Sourdough Journey advises placing a cup of water in several areas. The loaf on my top rack was good but the loaf on my second rack overproofed a bit because it was a couple degrees warmer. I could have compensated by taking out the overproofed loaf sooner.
Thank you for this article! I am just starting my sourdough journey and there are SO MANY things I have questions about or don’t understand. I’m hoping to save this so I can reference it later when I make my first loaf. Thank you again.
Glad it’s helping!! Just start somewhere and the knowledge will come as a slow burn!
I’ve been leaving it cold ferment for three days and then shaping the loaves. It has been turning out fine. I’m new. Anybody have any comments as to why that’s not a good idea?
I hope someone can help! I put my dough in the fridge so it wouldn’t overproof during the night, BUT I just read that you should shape it first and I didn’t do that! Now what?! Do I shape it while it’s cold and then bake it, or do I let it get up to room temperature, then shape it, then bake it? Please help! Thank you!!
No problem!! Go ahead and shape it straight out of the fridge. Let it rise for a few hours on your counter so it can kind of “recover” from the handling you did and get nice and puffy again. Then bake!
This is my first time cold proofing. After scoring how long can it sit on the counter to rise better and do I have to bake it in preheated pot or can I bake it on a pizza stone? Also do I let it rest and rise in another bowl on parchment paper or just on the counter on parchment paper? Thank you for the help!
I would wait to score it if you need it to rise more on the counter after the cold proof. Ideally, you’d score and bake it right from the fridge. You can bake it on a pizza stone but you need a source of steam. So either a way to cover the bread or perhaps a cast iron skillet on the bottom rack that you fill with ice cubes as soon you put your bread in the oven (so it creates steam).
Update: I took both of the breads out of the fridge, they were in there 13 hours. When I took them out and scored them they deflated. I left them out on the counter to see if they would rise. If they come back up I will bake them this afternoon.
I discovered a trick for covering my banneton during cold fermentation. I also do not like to use plastic because of the condensation that occurs, but I didn’t feel cloth was enough because I tend to feel like the dough starts to dry on the top… so I use a cloth cover and then add a small piece of press’n’seal wrap. It sticks very nicely to the cloth! I have reused it a dozen times that way and no sign of it needing to be replaced anytime soon! I just let it air out before putting away. It absorbs any extra moisture without drying out! 🙂
Great idea, thanks for sharing!
How do you keep the dough from sticking to the cloth liner of the banneton? I’ve tried coating the cloth heavily with AP flour, but it still sticks! Could I line the banneton with plastic or parchment paper? Would rice flour work better?
Rice flour works the best!
Does sourdough using fresh milled flour benefit from overnight cold fermentation? I’ve read recipes that say yes and a couple that say not to do more than 2 hours.
I haven’t done any work with fresh milled flour so I can’t speak from personal experience. But in general, I would say yes. The overnight cold retard is pre-digesting more of the gluten which makes it easier on the gut for many. There is no scientific evidence of this yet (no studies) but lots of anecdotal evidence.
I’m new to all this. Everything was going great until I cold proofed. I cold proofed for less than 48hrs in my fridge with the basket top covered when I took my loaf out to bake it had fallen. What did I do wrong?
It looks like it was veering on overproofed when it was shaped – shorten the length of the bulk fermentation and that should resolve the issue.
After shaping my sourdough rolls. The dough is around 85 f. Time is typically 1pm. Into the fridge wrapped in plastic. Next morning, get the oven up to 450f, then pre heat my cast iron for thirty mins. Then after scoring , I heavily mist the rolls with water ( parchemt is very wet) and into the oven to bake. I have no water pan or such in the oven, just the mist of water on the dough…. Great results
Love that, thanks for sharing!