Leftcoast USA

Is it better of make bread with wet dough or stiff dough? Or is this a matter of what kind of bread you want? How about for a slow rise dough (like in the refrigerator overnight)?

Gluten forms more easily in better hydrated dough. A stiff dough requires more kneading to form gluten. But a stiff dough is harder to knead.

So it sounds like you want your dough as wet as possible without having it turn into batter. Is this actually the case in real life baking?

I kneaded my bread dough on the cutting board, and the resulting bread had a sour taste. Which probably means the dough acquired unwanted germs from the cutting board. I always wash my cutting board, once with cold water so food pieces don't cook and stick to the board, and with hot water and detergent the second time. Apparently, this is good enough for regular food but not if I want to work with dough on it. Is there a better way to take care of the cutting board besides regular washing and keeping it dry?