Second Rise for Refrigerated Dough

The bread I’m making calls for a 1 hour second rise at room temperature before baking. I have to run out, though, so I put the shaped loaves in the fridge. How long should I let the dough rest at room temperature before baking?

While I like to bake and bake bread fairly regularly I wouldn’t say I’m a bread expert . . . but there are so many variables to really answer that question; what type of dough, how long in the fridge, what type of yeast, did it overproof in the fridge since it is already shaped . . . .

Assuming it isn’t overproofed and when you get home and are ready to bake it, that the bread is ready to be baked as well (it could still need more rise time potentially) - I would give it 20-30 minutes at room temp and then bake it off.

If it was fully proofed when you put it in the fridge, you can bake it straight from the fridge. If not, you’ll need to let it sit until it rises as much as you want it to, and there’s no way of knowing how long that will take. In my experience, it will need to be out of the fridge for at least an hour before the yeast will wake up and start it rising again (assuming it has been in the fridge long enough to fully retard their activity in the first place).