Dough ball refrigeration question

[texassourdough]

Hi Kim!

My doughs are usually too wet/delicate for the full "over the knuckle" stretch. Your dough sounds underrelaxed which is in my experience mostly a matter of the flour, the hydration, the mixing, and the time from balling. Did you have a shorter proof time than normal? (If it was softer than normal I would have suspected the biga but it is not likely to be the culprit for too inelastic.)

Interesting!
Jay

[splatgirl]

I have said before that I think an IDY dough and a sourdough made and handled exactly the same are vastly different in terms of how the gluten develops and behaves, so perhaps your use of some sourdough in the recipe had something to do with the change in handling vs. what you are used to.

Like Jay, I am not really much an over the knuckle stretcher for the same reasons he gave. A little bit at the very outset and then it's onto a floured peel to finish. That said, I have never experienced a stubborn or hard to stretch dough with the high hydration, WFO-suitable recipes. The exception would be overt mishandling issues like attempting to re-ball and re-stretch a round.
Too warm doughs are harder to handle, more slack and prone to getting holes. Overproofed doughs are even more hole-prone. For me, on the just barely side of room-temp or even a little bit cool is ideal. Warmer than that and I do change my shaping technique to working almost exclusively on the floured peel.