Let’s talk about the question that comes up every summer: “Did I leave my dough in the fridge too long?” In a warm-weather rhythm, the fridge isn’t just a backup plan — it’s part of the method. For many home kitchens, a long, cold proof can: - Give you better flavor without racing through bulk - Make stickier summer dough easier to handle and score - Let you flex your bake time around real life, not the other way around The longer fermentation is where we start to see some of the maximum gut health benefits. Sweet spot...3 days up to 5 days. Then there is that week that you forgot that you had dough in the fridge, and the only time you remember is when you open your fridge, but you just close the fridge...pretty soon 5-6 days have gone by and you wonder if you can still bake it...the answer is YES! Just like a starter becomes more watery when it has not been fed, eventually our dough will do the same thing. If you notice that your dough is really high hydration on that day 5 or after, (meaning, when you try to shape it it just puddles, you can easily turn it into focaccia by putting it in a 9x13 baking dish smothered with olive oil. Then add more olive oil, spices/salt, dimple it and let it rest...bake it up). It may not haven been what you wanted, but you can go with the flow and use up that dough anyway! Happy Baking!