What is the best step in the baking process to retard dough?

Question

I'm trying to streamline my bread-making for my busy schedule.  I am making the breadsticks from Michael Kalanty's How to Bake Bread (reliable recipe), but I need to make the dough Monday so I can make the breadsticks on Tuesday.  It is a soft dough, made with part milk and some fat.  Here are the steps: make the dough, rise 30 minutes on a half-sheet, "walk it out" like you would focaccia, rise 30 more minutes, form the breadsticks and proof, bake.  So, when should I retard the dough in the fridge?  Let it rise once, then have the second rise in the fridge/coming to room temp on the second day?  Or retard the formed breadsticks?

boulangere · Answer

I'd retard it after you take it for the focaccia walk, before shaping the breadsticks.  I retard focaccia at that point, after I've stretched it, then let it proof and dimple it the next day.  I suspect you'll get a better rise on your breadsticks that way.

A Whole Foods Market Customer · Answer

After mixing - let the retard replace the first rise.

What is the best step in the baking process to retard dough?

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