Gerald,
The various methods and numbers of rises affects mostly the texture
of the crumb. One procedure for making a crusty loaf with large,
relatively coarse holes in the crumb is to do one primary rise, no
punch downs, carefully lift the dough out of the rising bowl
(non-stick spray helps here), carefully shape the loaves without
degassing the dough too much and then bake after the shaped loaf
rises. A second procedure for making loaf with a softer, more
closed crumb, with nearly the same mix of ingredients is to punch
down (really fold down) the first rise after an hour, fold down again
after another hour, then fold down again after the third hour and
then shape the loaves, let rise, and bake. Even after the third fold
down the dough will be almost double. This repeated folding (and
degassing) allows the yeast to create bubbles within the web
structure created in the prior rise, resulting in a very soft crumb
(and an exceptional French toast bread since it soaks up batter like a sponge).
Werner