Hi Brenda, you do want to be somewhat careful with your poking, and don't wait until the dough is fragile, as Maggie cautioned. I tend to put my bread in the oven a little earlier than recommended here, when the indentation fills in slowly, which makes for a little more resiliency in the dough. If you're nervous about poking too aggressively, try a gentle 1/2" poke. Recipes that call for multiple rises before the final shaped rise may contain less yeast (which will allow for a more extended fermentation time). It may also be that older recipes included an additional rise to accomodate yeast that took longer to activate, or flour that took longer to develop adequate strength, or maybe just cooler home temperatures. Extending the fermentation time in this way can also help develop more flavor, but your recipe will likely still work fine with two rises instead of three, as long as it has sufficient yeast for the dough to rise well during the first rise. You may find this article on yeast helpful in determining how many rises are necessary for your older recipes. 

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