The schedule
Times are for dough at 75°F / 24°C. Warmer is faster, cooler is slower — start to finish this loaf takes 17h 13m at 68°F, 12h 40m at 75°F, 10h 22m 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 but the oil, in one bowl, by hand.
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3
5:15 · 45m
Bulk ferment
Covered, in an oiled bowl. 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
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
9:15 · 10m
Into the pan
Generously oiled pan. Tip the dough in, turn it once to coat, and leave it to spread on its own.
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6
9:25 · 2h
Pan proof
Until puffy and full of bubbles. Then dimple hard with oiled fingertips, right down to the pan, and salt the top.
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7
11:25 · 30m
Oven on
450°F / 230°C, middle rack.
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8
11:55 · 25m
Bake
Until the top is golden and the edges have fried in the oil.
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9
12:20 · 20m
Cool
Twenty minutes in the pan, then out onto a rack.
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.
First loaf, 70%
Stiffer dough, fewer folds, more margin. Start here if a previous loaf turned into a puddle.