It’s great to have some schedules to base your recipes off of. While it’s impossible to say exactly how long a dough should ferment or proof or even stay in the oven, these schedules will give you a good starting point.

All schedules below are based off a kitchen that stays around 70’F and has relatively low humidity (Santa Fe, NM).

Basic Bakers Yeast

This is the quickest and easiest type of bread to bake. It uses bakers yeast which ferments and proofs quickly. This is something you can knock out without much planning.

• 8:00am – Start autolyse. Mix the flour and water and let it rest. (30 minutes).
• 8:30am – Mix salt and yeast into autolysed flour and begin bulk fermentation. (5 hours).
• 9:00am, 9:30am, 10:00am – Stretch and fold the dough 3 times over the first 90 minutes.
• 1:30pm – Transfer dough to floured work surface and shape the loaf. If you’re making two loaves, divide the dough in half first. Transfer shaped loaf into a banneton and proof. (30-60 minutes).
• 1:45pm – Start pre-heating the oven with dutch oven inside of it. (450’F)
• 2:00-2:30pm – Transfer loaf into dutch oven and begin baking.
  • Bake for 38 minutes with the lid on the dutch oven
  • Remove the lid and bake for an additional 14 minutes.
• Once baking is complete, remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for at least one hour before cutting.

Overnight Bakers Yeast

This schedule uses a small amount of bakers yeast but gives the bread a more complex flavor profile due to the long overnight fermentation.

• 5:00pm – Start autolyse. Mix the flour and water and let it rest (30 minutes)
• 5:30pm – Mix salt and yeast into autolysed flour and begin bulk fermentation (12-14 hours)
• 6:00pm, 6:30pm, 7:00pm – Stretch and fold three times over first 90 minutes
• 6:30am – Transfer dough to floured work surface and shape the loaf. If you’re making two loaves, divide the dough in half first. Transfer shaped loaf into a banneton and proof. (60-90 minutes).
• 7:00am – Start pre-heating the oven with dutch oven inside of it. (450’F)
• 7:15-7:45am – Transfer loaf to dutch oven and begin baking
  • Bake for 38 minutes with the lid on the dutch oven
  • Remove the lid and bake for an additional 14 minutes.
• Once baking is complete, remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for at least one hour before cutting.

Hybrid Sourdough + Bakers Yeast

This type of bread uses a combination of sourdough levain and bakers yeast. You’ll get more complexity from the sourdough and longer cold proofing time.

• 8:00am – Start levain with unfed starter. (8 hours).
• 3:30pm – Start autolyse. Mix flour and water and let it rest. (30 minutes).
• 4:00pm – Mix levain, yeast and salt into autolysed flour and begin bulk fermentation. (5 hours).
• 4:30pm, 5:00pm, 5:30pm, 6:00pm – Stretch and fold dough 4 times during first 2 hours of bulk fermentation.
• 9:00pm – Transfer dough to floured work surface and shape the loaf. If you’re making two loaves, divide the dough in half first. Transfer shaped loaf into a banneton and slide the banneton into a plastic bag. Proof overnight in refrigerator. (10-12 hours).
• 7:15am – Start pre-heating the oven with dutch oven inside of it. (450’F)
• 8:00am – Transfer loaf into dutch oven and begin baking.
  • Bake for 38 minutes with the lid on the dutch oven
  • Remove the lid and bake for an additional 14 minutes.
• Once baking is complete, remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for at least one hour before cutting.

Pure Sourdough

This method uses only your sourdough culture to ferment and proof the loaf. The long bulk fermentation and proofing times help showcase more complex flavors.

• 8:00am – Start levain with unfed starter. (8 hours).
• 3:30pm – Start autolyse. Mix flour and water and let it rest. (30 minutes).
• 4:00pm – Mix levain and salt into autolysed flour and begin bulk fermentation. (12-14 hours).
• 4:30pm, 5:15pm, 6:00pm, 6:45pm – Stretch and fold dough 4 times during first 2-4 hours of bulk fermentation.
• 6:00am – Transfer dough to floured work surface and shape the loaf. If you’re making two loaves, divide the dough in half first. Transfer shaped loaf into a banneton and slide the banneton into a plastic bag. Proof at room temperature. (3-4 hours).
• 9:15am – Start pre-heating the oven with dutch oven inside of it. (450’F)
• 10:00am – Transfer loaf into dutch oven and begin baking.
  • Bake for 38 minutes with the lid on the dutch oven
  • Remove the lid and bake for an additional 14 minutes
• Once baking is complete, remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for at least one hour before cutting.

Lazy Sourdough Method

This method cuts some corners to save time without sacrificing flavor or rise. There is no autolyse period and you use your unfed starter straight from the fridge. You might want to overbuild your starter slightly if you plan on using this method since it calls for 100g of unfed starter to a loaf with 500g of flour.

• 12:00pm on day 1 – mix all of your ingredients and let bulk ferment at room temperature (8 hours)
• 8:00pm on day 1 – shape and transfer to a banneton. Proof in the fridge. (17 hours)
• 12:00pm on day 2 – start preheating the oven to 450’F with a dutch oven inside (1 hour)
• 1:00pm on day 2 – take proofed dough straight from fridge and put in dutch oven for baking
  • Bake for 20 minutes with the lid of the dutch oven on
  • Bake for an additional 30-35 minutes with lid off

See the lazy sourdough method in action here: Seeded Lazy Sourdough