"Kenneth" > wrote in message
...

> Interesting... I have not noticed that retarding the dough
> has any particular effect on the level our sour.
>

As someone who had at one time experimented with long retardation of
sourdough, I can definitely say there is an effect on sour, though maybe not
directly from the retarding. As retarding doesn't stop the fermentation
process, just slows it down, the time spent in the fridge is time spent in
growing sourdough critters, just much slower and at a different ratio than
in warmth. If I wanted to experiment with a very long retardation, I would
have to cut some time off the warm fermentation, or end up with very slack
dough where the gluten is very broken down. If I am cutting down on the warm
time to compensate, I lose sour. My conclusions here were that retarding
created a somewhat less sour product (increasingly less as the cold to warm
ratio increased), but with a much more interesting crust due to decreased
gluten strength. Seam side up.

hutchndi