This is my second attempt to make a sourdough pain de mie. The first one did not work out as it refused to rise although I did get some oven spring. For that loaf I used starter straight from the fridge. With @Ann_T 's help and a lesson or two learned I set out to make a second loaf.
On Wednesday, for the second loaf, I made a levain the night before. I mixed the dough at 9:30 AM, did the requisite stretch and folds and took it out of the oven at 9:30 that night. I ended up proofing it in the BSO on the proof setting to speed things along a bit or I swear I would have been baking it at midnight. When I tried to put the lid on the pan, it refused to go on, so it went into the oven as a regular loaf. Thursday we had grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch using this bread. The sandwich was perfection. I love this bread.
Lessons learned are these: take 2 days to make this bread and use a levain. Ferment one day, bake the next, as it takes forever to rise. Secondly, if using the proof setting on the oven, let the pan come back to room temperature before baking and the lid will slide right on.
Best loaf of bread ever.