So I’ve been baking sourdough using the overnight country brown recipe by Forkish for over a month now, I’ve produced at least 20 decent loaves but here’s the question. I can’t figure out why one loaf rises just slightly higher than the first loaf to go in the oven .
The only variable that I can see that may be impacting the rise height is the proofing / retard of the second loaf in the refrig for about 60 minutes beyond what the first loaf receive which went from 2 hours of proofing ( yes they proof quickly - I use the finger poke method ) into the oven. I also noticed that the second loaf comes out of the batard looking more defined and holds it’s shape much better while the first loaf dropped slightly. So why is the second one coming out better, Both loaves turn out absolutely wonderful. I give the second loaf away to friends or a neighbor and they absolutely love it consuming the loaf in a few days. A picture of the second loaf is below. 
Chilled dough always behaves much nicer I think - easier to score, keeps shape better, and often also bigger oven spring (although not sure how that would happen when the chilled time is in addition to the room temperature proofing...). Also, is it possible your first loaf is always slightly underproofed?
The first loaf felt ( finger method ) just on the edge of over proofing. Definitely didn’t signal that it was under proofed. It’s definitely hard to tell sometimes. I get frustrated with that method but you may be on to something.
So question for you - the recipe calls for 4 hours of proofing at room temps. - I generally find 2 hours is plenty with this dough but if you were to substitute refrig proofing how long would your proof in the refrig?
How long do you heat your oven before you peel the loaf? Is it possible that it is cooler for the first loaf, especially if you use a stone? I find my stone needs a full hour to come to baking temperature.
-Brad
Too hot will cure the crust too fast. I have a a whole set of posts speaking to oven tuning and am getting really close to a reliable protocol. The one thing that has really helped is an internal thermometer. I will monitor the entire bake and note the dips on temps - the entire curve really. Could be the dough as well. Whatever the case its a testament to how fine the conditions need to be in order to get control over a bake ;)
I do use an oven thermometer. I heat the oven with pizza stone and Lodge combo cooker to 525 for about an hour and drop it down to 475 when baking. Perhaps this is the wrong approach. Maybe it’s curing the crust too soon as you say. I will take a look at your posts regarding oven tuning.
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Do you use regular bake or convection mode. Are you aware of an oven’s settings that adjust down the temps for convection.
So after the first bake a reset the oven to 525 but only wait about 20 minutes. I then put in the second loaf which comes out better.
I do wish there was an internal oven thermometer that was easier to read.
So this consistently happens - so I must be doing something consistently wrong or right. Have to figure that out,
Perhaps try just the regular bake mode?
I preheat for more than an hour with a pizza stone on top rack to prevent burning due to convention oven settings. It may need more time. I use an oven thermometer. It’s odd how the oven adjusts temps down by 10 degrees when using convention bake. I heat mine at 525 for over an hour with the cast iron Lodge cast iron combo cooker inside and drop down to 475 when cooking.
It might be cooler for the first loaf. I will try preheating longer.
I tried baking Overnight Country Blonde which is similar to Overnight Country Brown except for the flours you use. Fermentation was about the same. Used a scale after dividing to make loaves equal in weight. The recipes call for 4 hour proofs. I have seen these ready for baking at less than 2 hours and don’t want to risk going longer - yet come to think about it - given that the proofing window is longer with these all levain and long ferment doughs I was wondering if it would be wise to put both in the refrig at 1:45 and keep both cold for an hour longer for the first one and almost 2 hours longer for the second. I did both in the refrig at 1:45 and baked at 2:00. I noticed a slight improvement with the one that sat in the refrig for 15 minutes when I took it out of the bitard but scoring was still difficult. The second one scored very easily. It was also presented a tighter less rounded more defined dough after removal. There is a slight difference the second one baked. I watched the temps of the oven carefully. Preheated everything to 525 and dropped down to 475 when baking. Going to experiment with cold proofing after room proofing. The 1st loaf is delicious. The crust is incredible. The second one is on the left.
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