Plastic trays are junk, they get brittle in the cold and split right down the seam. Soda bottle plastic holds up way better. I did the same thing with a cut up milk jug under my washer for a year, still going.

Wait, you actually tried the short ferment and got the same crumb? That kind of flips what I’ve been doing for a while too. I used to think the long cold proof was the only way to get that professional look, but after reading the science you mentioned, I tested a 4 hour bulk on a simple sandwich loaf and it came out just as soft, just less tangy. The truth is, the long ferment is really only worth it if you’re chasing that specific sour flavor, not for structure. I’m not ditching my overnight doughs for sourdough, but for regular yeasted bread, I’m sticking with the short method now.

3 years of trusting that thing is a wild ride, I'll tell you that. I had a buddy tighten a wheel bearing with a $30 special and the bolt snapped clean off on the highway, lucky nobody got hurt. If you can't afford the fancy testing service, at least borrow a friend's beam style wrench and compare readings on a few bolts, that's what I did and it caught mine being off by 15 foot pounds.