Let's say I am making a no knead bread. It calls for a long period of rising, then you fold it over a couple times and let it second rise for a couple hours and bake. Then there's another no knead recipe that calls for folding over the dough during the initial long rise a couple times.
Would this reduce the second rise at all? Wouldn't each time I fold it over count as a second, third, etc rise and eventually it woudnt rise anymore? I ask because one time I followed such a recipe and the first time I folded it over during the long first rise, the dough rose a ton afterwords, almost like a second rise. But then the second time I folded it over during the first rise, it barely rose at all, and then the actual "second" rise was kind of weak.
Thanks for helping me understand what's going on!
... to the O.P., what hydration are you using? I've seen no-knead recipes with hydrations ranging from about 75% all the way up to 90+ %. For my own baking I've settled on 75% as the dough is much more manageable. I can shape and slash it fairly easily and let it rest on linen (flax) prior to baking.
I've taken a recent interest in no-knead because the cause of my former concrete-like crusts was diagnosed as overkneading. The NK boules I have made so far have been successful, with a much thinner and less concrete-like crust.
It partly depends on how you fold. If you stretch the dough gently, then fold it over on itself without squashing it, that helps develop gluten and make the dough more stretchy and strong. If you don't stretch but merely fold it then press down hard you're probably squeezing out too much of the already-developed gas.