Pick when you want bread — get every step, around your sleep.
Cups
Grams
°F
°C
What are you baking?
Everyday country loaf
Same-day loaf
Overnight loaf
Soft sandwich loaf
Gluten-free sourdough loaf
The classic first loaf: crackly crust, open crumb, a little whole wheat for flavor.
Loaves
1
2
3
4
At
I go to bed at
I get up at
Kitchen temperature
°F
Example: bread out at 10 am on Saturday
Fri 8:22 am
Feed your starter 1:1:1
Mix 3 tbsp (40 g) starter with ¼ cup + 1 tbsp (40 g) flour and 3 tbsp (40 g) water. It should be bubbly and doubled in 3½–6½ hours.
Fri 1:28 pm
Mix the dough
Your starter should have doubled and be full of bubbles. Mix everything into a shaggy dough — the dough then rises for about 5 hours.
Fri 1:58 pm
Stretch and fold (1 of 4)
With wet hands, lift one side of the dough and fold it over; turn the bowl and repeat four times.
Fri 2:28 pm
Stretch and fold (2 of 4)
With wet hands, lift one side of the dough and fold it over; turn the bowl and repeat four times.
Fri 2:58 pm
Stretch and fold (3 of 4)
With wet hands, lift one side of the dough and fold it over; turn the bowl and repeat four times.
Fri 3:28 pm
Stretch and fold (4 of 4)
With wet hands, lift one side of the dough and fold it over; turn the bowl and repeat four times.
Fri 6:28 pm
Check the rise, then pre-shape
Shape when the dough has grown by about 30–50%, is domed and wobbly, with bubbles on the sides. Watch the dough, not the clock. Round it gently and let it rest 30 minutes.
Fri 7:08 pm
Shape the loaf
Shape it tightly and put it seam-side up in a floured basket or a towel-lined bowl.
Fri 7:18 pm
Into the fridge
Cover it and let it rest in the fridge — about 14 hours here. Anywhere from 12 to 48 hours works, so this is the step that fits your day.
Sat 8:28 am
Heat the oven to 475°F
Put the Dutch oven inside, lid on, and let them heat for 50 minutes.
Sat 9:18 am
Score and bake, lid on
Turn the loaf onto parchment, cut a slash across the top and lower it into the hot pot. Lid on, 20 minutes. Use oven gloves and lift the lid away from you.
Sat 9:38 am
Lid off, 450°F
Take the lid off (gloves!) and bake 20–25 minutes more, until deep brown — 205°F–210°F inside.
Sat 10:00 am
Bread out of the oven
Done when it is deep golden and 205°F–210°F inside.
Sat 10:00 am
Let it cool
At least an hour before you slice it — it is still baking inside.
The planner works backwards from the time you want the bread: the bake, the night in the fridge, shaping, the rise, mixing, and the feed that gets your starter ready in time.
Nothing that needs your hands falls in your sleep hours. If a time cannot work, it offers the nearest times that do.
Questions
How far ahead do I start?
Usually the day before: a feed in the morning, mixing around lunchtime, shaping in the evening, a night in the fridge and baking the next morning. The planner works it out for your time.
Can the dough stay in the fridge longer?
Yes — anywhere from 12 to 48 hours. That flexibility is what lets the planner fit a bake around your day; longer gives a tangier loaf.
What if my dough is faster than the plan?
Go by the dough. If it has risen enough early, move on to the next step early — the plan is a guide, and the app’s live bake mode re-plans every step when you tap “ready early”.
It remembers your starter, plans every bake around your day and reminds you at each step — no alarms at 3 am. Coming to the iPhone App Store before Christmas.
Get the app the day it launches
One email when the iPhone app is on the App Store, then a short baking tip now and then.
Your email
No spam, and never shared. Every email has a one-click unsubscribe.