I’m a little confused by the directions in the bread bible.  Do I let it double first and then refrigerate?  Or it doubles while it’s in the fridge?

I decided to throw it in the fridge and let it do all of its rising there.  It appears to have worked, but I’m still curious regarding the original intent of the instructions.

Amy, I read the recipe, and it wasn’t clear to me, either.  It almost sounds like a sentence is missing. 

Based on Rose’s methods for Brioche, which I make often (and this comes from the Brioche section), I would guess that one allows the dough to double at room temp, then transfers the bowl to the ‘fridge to chill and ripen.  But then it is allowed to nearly triple, which is more rising than the Brioche at that point, so I’m confused, too. 

In any event, your stud muffin looks wonderful!  So putting it directly into the refrigerator must have been OK.  Was it tasty?

I’ve made this recipe many times and I do not leave the dough out before refrigerating it.  It seems to work perfectly - yours looks just like mine.  Isn’t the flavour just amazing?  EVERYONE should make this at least once in their lives.  Annie

I agree with Julie—I let mine rise at room temp first—I see I put a notation in the margin to let it rise 1 to 1 1/4 hours.  But obviously it works without doing this as well—my guess would be that the crumb of the bread will be somewhat finer if you do this additional rise.