Sourdough Schedule Planner
Tell it when you want bread and how warm your kitchen is. You get a clock-time plan for every step, from feeding the levain to slicing, and a warning if a step lands in the middle of the night.
Times are estimated from your temperature. Edit any of them to match your own dough.
How the planner works
A sourdough bake is a chain of steps, and only two of them really move with temperature: how long the levain takes to peak and how long the bulk fermentation runs. The planner estimates both from your kitchen temperature, adds the fixed steps (mixing, shaping, baking, cooling) and lays them end to end. Choose Bread ready by and it works backwards from when you want to slice. Choose Start at and it works forwards from when you feed the levain.
Preheating isn't added to the total. It overlaps the last hour of the proof, so it shows up as its own reminder.
Sourdough timing by temperature
As a working rule, sourdough fermentation takes about twice as long for every 8 °C (14 °F) cooler. These are the planner's estimates for a typical loaf with about 20% levain:
| Temperature | Levain at 1:2:2 | Bulk ferment | Room-temp proof |
|---|---|---|---|
| 64 °F (18 °C) | 10 h | 8 h 30 min | 2 h 30 min |
| 68 °F (20 °C) | 8 h 30 min | 7 h | 2 h |
| 72 °F (22 °C) | 7 h 15 min | 6 h | 1 h 45 min |
| 75 °F (24 °C) | 6 h | 5 h | 1 h 30 min |
| 79 °F (26 °C) | 5 h | 4 h 15 min | 1 h 15 min |
| 82 °F (28 °C) | 4 h 15 min | 3 h 30 min | 1 h |
Treat them as a starting point. A strong, active starter, more levain, or whole grain flour all speed fermentation up, and a sluggish starter slows it down. After a bake or two you'll know whether your dough runs fast or slow, and you can type your own times into the planner.
Watch the dough, not the clock
The schedule tells you roughly when to check. The dough tells you when it's ready. Bulk fermentation is done when the dough has grown by about 50–75% (less for whole grain, more for white flour), feels airy and jiggly, has a domed surface and shows bubbles along the sides and top. A straight-sided container with a mark at the starting level makes the rise easy to judge. If the dough isn't there yet, give it more time. Cutting bulk short is the most common cause of a dense, tight crumb.
A levain is ready when it has roughly doubled, is full of bubbles and smells pleasantly sour. A spoonful of ripe levain usually floats in water. Peak timing also depends on the ratio: a 1:1:1 feed peaks fastest, while 1:5:5 gives more food and buys you several extra hours, which is useful overnight.
Fitting sourdough around your day
The fridge is the biggest scheduling tool there is. A cold proof of 8–16 hours slows fermentation almost to a stop, so you can shape in the evening and bake the next morning. Many bakers find the bread tastes better for it, and a cold loaf is easier to score. Some common shapes for a week:
| Weekend bake | Feed the levain Saturday morning, mix around lunchtime, shape in the evening, cold proof overnight, bake Sunday morning. |
|---|---|
| Workday friendly | Feed a 1:5:5 levain before bed and mix before work. Keep the dough cool, around 65 °F (18 °C), so bulk fermentation stretches through the day, and shape as soon as you're home. Cold proof overnight and bake before work the next day. |
| Same day | Feed the levain early, keep the dough warm (78–80 °F / 26–27 °C), proof at room temperature and bake in the evening. Fastest, but with the least room for error. |
If the planner flags a step overnight, there are three easy fixes: move the ready time, use a 1:5:5 feed so the levain waits for you, or cool your dough so bulk fermentation slows down. The desired dough temperature calculator tells you what water temperature gets you there.
Stretch and folds
The fold times in the plan are 30 minutes apart, starting half an hour into bulk fermentation. Each set is four folds: grab one side of the dough, stretch it up and fold it over, turn the bowl a quarter and repeat. Folding builds strength without kneading, and four sets is plenty for most doughs. Very wet doughs may want one or two more. After the last set, leave the dough alone for the rest of the bulk. To get your starter on the right cycle before baking day, use the starter feeding calculator.