Proofing at room temp overnight

[kendunn]

Ran into a fellow a year or so ago that was telling me he liked to proof his dough overnight at room temp. Said just a sprinkle of yeast and it would do amazing things, IIRC said it had a bit of fermented taste. I didn't really get specifics but he swore by it, anyone else do this? What do you do? I normally use the 65% formula with 400 grams of flour, 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp yeast.

[SableSprings]

I've been doing the overnight proofing for over five years now and it's tough to beat. Lots of big name bakers/authors use this technique now. I've attached a pdf for my poolish/levain baguette (4 baguettes). The instant yeast portions are generally around 0.5 Bakers Percent (or less)...much less yeast and far less kneading in the method with fabulous gluten development. Highly recommend you try it. Check out the book My Bread by Jim Lahey as he uses the method extensively. More recently Ken Forkish has put together a book titled Flour, Water, Salt & Yeast that also uses and explains why the less yeast, longer cold-retarded rise works so well.