The schedule
Times are for dough at 75°F / 24°C. Warmer is faster, cooler is slower — start to finish this loaf takes 30h 6m at 68°F, 26h 2m at 75°F, 23h 59m at 80°F. Steps marked in colour scale with temperature; the rest do not.
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1
0:00 · 5h
Build the levain
Mix the levain weights from the formula card. Ready when it has domed and is just starting to flatten — floats in water, smells sweet-sour, not sharp.
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2
5:00 · 15m
Mix everything
Flour, water, levain and salt together from the start. Squeeze and fold for two or three minutes until it is one shaggy mass.
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3
5:15 · 45m
Bulk ferment
Cover and keep it somewhere warm and draught-free. First fold in 45 min.
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6:00 · 45m
Stretch and fold 1 of 3
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6:45 · 45m
Stretch and fold 2 of 3
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7:30 · 45m
Stretch and fold 3 of 3
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4
8:15 · 1h 30m
Bulk, hands off
No more folding. Bulk is done when the dough has risen roughly 50%, domed, and feels airy — jiggly, not soupy. Read the dough, not this clock.
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5
9:45 · 5m
Pre-shape
Loose round, bare counter, five minutes of nerve.
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6
9:50 · 20m
Bench rest
Uncovered.
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7
10:10 · 10m
Shape and basket
Fold to a tight parcel, seam up in a floured bowl lined with a tea towel.
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8
10:20 · 12h
Cold proof
Fridge overnight. Cold dough is far easier to score.
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9
22:20 · 1h
Oven on
475°F / 245°C, Dutch oven preheated inside. Give the pot at least 45 minutes at temperature — a cold pot is the most common reason a loaf comes out pale and flat.
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10
23:20 · 22m
Bake covered
Turn the dough out onto parchment, score it in one confident stroke about 1 cm deep, lower it in, lid on.
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11
23:42 · 20m
Lid off
Drop the oven to 450°F / 230°C. Bake until the crust is deep brown — darker than feels comfortable. Internal temperature 205–210°F / 96–99°C.
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12
24:02 · 2h
Cool before cutting
On a rack, at least two hours. The crumb is still setting; cutting early is what makes a loaf gummy.
At 75°F the dough ferments at the rate this schedule was written for. Fermentation runs about 1.4× longer at 68°F.
More schedules
Try another loaf
Country loaf, overnight
The default. Build the levain in the morning, bulk in the afternoon, shape at night, bake first thing.
Country loaf, same day
Levain at breakfast, bread by dinner. No fridge step, so the timing is tighter and the flavour is milder.
Open crumb, 82%
High hydration, gentle handling, long cold proof. Wants strong flour and a starter that is firing reliably.