Placing shaped dough in the fridge (typically 3-5C / 38-41F) to slow fermentation, usually overnight, giving you control over when you bake.
Cold retarding is mainly about scheduling -- you shape in the evening, fridge overnight, bake in the morning. Some bakers claim it improves flavor, though the evidence for that is mixed. What it definitely does is make scoring easier, because cold dough holds its shape better under a blade. Your dough can retard for 8-24 hours, sometimes even 48. The finger poke test doesn't work on cold dough, so you'll need to experiment with timing.
