So which one rose better? The one in glass? I'm thinking the metal bowl conducted the warmth out of the dough faster, and that slowed the rise, while the glass acted as an insulator. The shape of the bowls could matter too, although not so much as temperature differences. Are the bowls the same shape? Did you put them into the fridge at the same time? It may also not be the bowls making the difference. Outside of a laboratory, it's hard to be sure you made two identical batches. The water temperature could have been different to start. How you knead, how much flour you added, etc., can contribute to a different result. Most important: could the yeast have been different? Unless it was all from the same source, that may well explain it. What you're doing now sounds fine. Punched down, and allowed to rise at room temperesture for however long it takes, it should all be fine.

lizbeth-gardener- --Perfectly softened butter should still look solid, but "give" a little when you press it lightly with your finger and leave a slight indent, but shouldn't be soft in feel or appearance. You don't want partially-melted butter. Using butter that is too soft can cause cookie spread. --Instead of the touch test for butter, try taking the temperature (place the thermometer into the stick from the narrow end into the center of the length of the stick) . Optimal temperature for fat/butter is 65-67-degrees F when you measure it with an instant-read thermometer. Since butter warms quickly when it's beat, starting at this cooler temperature prevents it from getting too soft during mixing. --Cold-from-the-refrigerator butter will be soft in 30-40-minutes at room temperature. You can speed that up by grating the butter on a large hole box grater, and grating it is a better method than in the microwave. --Don't use butter that has been sitting out on the counter for hours/days because it will probably be too soft (aka "slack" butter) due to ambient kitchen temperatures. --Thoroughly chilled dough will help assure the fat is solid once again - although if the dough got overly-warm at any point, the texture can change because the moisture and the fat in butter can separate. There are all kinds of tests for the "perfect" amount of refrigerator time, but there are too many variables from recipe-to-recipe to make that determination without testing each one. I have recipes that work best mixed and baked immediately (especially low-fat, or if liquid fat is used in the recipe), others need to be chilled at least an hour or 12-hours works well. If I freeze the dough balls, I prefer thawing them in the refrigerator overnight rather than baking them frozen, although, that's just one more option. --If you have a large amount of cookie dough to bake, be sure to keep it in the refrigerator while waiting for use. The heat in the kitchen can cause the fat to melt and the dough to go "slack", especially towards the end of the batch. --Don't continue to stir the cookie dough between handling for portioning because mixing it will over-develop the gluten and you'll get tough cookies. Pilllog mentioned not aerating the dough..... It's not so much about aerating as it is about over-mixing and over-developing the gluten once the flour has been added, which will cause the cookies to be tough. Once the fat/sugar have been properly mixed, don't over-mix the dough once the eggs have been added or the fat/liquid can "break". --Avoid placing cookie dough on a hot/warm pan. Have at least 3-4 cookies sheets to use so you always have one that is completely cool before loading the dough on it. Even warm pans will begin melting the fat in the dough. --Other causes for cookie spread: too much sugar (be sure to measure carefully), large-grained sugar (fine-grained is a better choice), too much baking soda - which makes the pH too high, too much grease or fat residue on the pan (wipe off between batches - better yet, cover them with parchment paper), incorrect temperature or cold oven temperature (be sure to preheat and check your oven for actual temperature using an oven thermometer). --Another important, and often missed, point.... When mixing the fat and sugar, be sure to take your time. If you rush through this step you can cause cookie spread because the two ingredients haven't been properly incorporated and the sugar crystals will remain too large. Other points to consider: -Size of the cookies you make. -Use a portion scoop so you get like-sized cookies which bake in the same amount of time. -Use a timer, and remember, the first pan normally takes a little longer then the subsequent pans. -In a standard oven, only bake one pan of cookies at a time and turn the pan half-way through baking. If you have a convection oven, reduce the temperature by 25-degrees F, and half-way through turn the pans and move the pans top to bottom. On a personal note, I've used nothing but insulated baking sheets for over 30-years, however I don't bake directly on the pans, I always top them with parchment paper. Adding parchment paper will give slightly different results on ALL pan types, as would adding a silicon sheet. When judging cookies at Fairs I can usually tell which kind of pan was used by the bottom of the cookies. Each pan type will give different results and there are different hints and tips for baking on each of them successfully. -Grainlady

Nancedar - if you get your countertop marble or granite honed, it won't be shiny. French, Italian, Greek and other european kitchens have been using honed marble countertops for centuries. As to etching, that's an american aesthetic bias. Again, if you go to a french kitchen with marble countertops, the marble is etched, stained by wine, etc. and they don't mind. I mean, the marble IS in a kitchen after all, and used for food prep, so it will show signs of use. Similarly, a wood counter in a traditional french kitchen will scratched and gouged, not babied. But I understand if we are thinking of home resale, and what we prefer, we may not want any etching or patina. As to flour containers, I am surprised no one has brought up the issue of insects getting into flour containers that aren't air tight. The OP's first link, and the pioneer woman link, both seem to me to be flour containers that are invitations for insects. I like a glass container with a tight screw top, but often the mouth is not wide enough for scoop-and-sweep of flour. I also have an assortment of the big Oxo Pop air-tight containers, the Click-clack cubes, and LocknLock containers. They are all BPA free too. A friend of mine doesn't like the chore of transferring flour or sugar from the original bag to another container. If anyone reading this thread is like that, there's the air-tight Flour container or sugar container.

Terri, I have split recipes for most Italian artisan breads and for French bread, forming ovals (rounds usually get out of shape or lumpy more easily for me)and baking on a sheet liberally sprinkled with cornmeal. I don't see why you can't split the dough and do smaller loaves, as long as the dough is a fairly firm one. If you are using a recipe that calls for a 9" cake pan, try making a "fence" of several folds of aluminum foil to contain the dough. Your friends are going to love you--everyone gives cookies and other sweets this time of year. Good homemade bread is the best treat of all!