For some reason, my bread never rises to "double the size" and "1 inch over the pan" until about 4 hours after rising. I was making this bread late at night and it was taking longer then usual, and I fell asleep. As of now, it has been rising for about 12 hours (active dry yeast). Is it still ok to bake? Or should I just throw out the loaf?
It might be past its optimal proof, but I'd personally bake it anyway. You wouldn't lose anything but electricity for the oven, and you'd most likely still be able to eat the result. You might even be surprised at the last minute oven spring.
Not an expert, but 4 hours sounds like a long time for instant yeast.
My best guess is that it would collapse in the oven if you baked it. A way to possibly save it would be to punch it down, knead some more flour into it, and see if it rises again. It sounds like you're using some sort of recipe with very little yeast to start with, so this method might work. However, if the yeast is maxed out it might not work. There's usually a smell associated with stressed yeast, but I don't know how to describe it.
Now I'm curious to know what you do and how it turns out!
Why don't you bake it and find out? We're waiting breathlessly.
It'll have been proven over 24 hours by now if OP hasn't decided whether to bake it yet! At this point I'd call it starter and make a miche :)
I leave my bread to rise for 4 to 5 hours, mind you the dough is very soft and elastic. If you held it up in the air it would drop down very quickly. After the rise time the dough has quadrupled in size and then it doubles when cooked. The sides never break because the dough is so soft.
The finished product is so large I have to cut it in half and then use one half as a normal size loaf.