The Basic Recipe
One Dutch oven, two days, and a dough that works around your life.
What You'll Need
Is your starter ready? Drop a small spoonful into a glass of water. If it floats, it's active and ready to bake with. If it sinks, give it a few more hours and check again.
The Process
This schedule is a suggestion, not a rule. The dough works around your morning — not the other way around.
9pm — The Night Before
Combine equal parts starter, flour, and water (a 1:1:1 ratio). Stir well, cover loosely, and leave at room temperature overnight. By morning it should be bubbly, domed, and fragrant.
Do this before you go to bed. It takes two minutes.8am — Day of Bake
Weigh 500g flour and 350g water into a large bowl. Mix until no dry flour remains. A rough, shaggy dough is perfect. Cover and rest for 30 minutes — the gluten develops on its own while you get on with your morning.
8:30am
Add 100g of your active starter and 10g of salt to the dough. Squeeze and fold until both are fully incorporated. It'll feel sticky and a little messy at first — that's normal. Cover and set aside.
Morning — First 2 Hours
Aim for 2–4 sets of stretch and folds over the next two hours. For each set: wet your hand, grab the underside of the dough, stretch it up as far as it'll go without tearing, then fold it over itself. Rotate the bowl and repeat four times. Cover and rest between sets.
Fit this around your morning. Longer gaps between folds are totally fine.Rest of the Day
Leave the covered dough at room temperature. You're waiting for it to grow by about 75–80% and become jiggly when you gently shake the bowl. A visible dome at the top is a good sign. This usually takes 8–10 hours depending on your kitchen temperature.
Trust the dough, not the clock. Warmer kitchen, faster rise. Cooler kitchen, slower.6–7pm — Evening
Gently turn the dough onto an unfloured surface. Shape into a round by folding the edges toward the centre, then flip and drag it gently toward you until the top feels taut. Place seam-side up into a banneton or a bowl lined with a well-floured tea towel. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Cold proofing slows fermentation and makes scoring easier. Bake within 24 hours of shaping.Next Morning — Bake Day
Place your Dutch oven (lid on) in the oven and preheat to 500°F / 260°C. Once it reaches temperature, keep going for another 15 minutes. You want it truly ripping hot. Tip the dough onto parchment, score confidently in one clean slash, and lower it in. Bake lid on at 425°F / 220°C for 25 minutes, then remove the lid and bake another 15–20 minutes until deep golden brown. Rest on a wire rack for at least an hour before cutting.
The crust cracks as it cools. That sound means you did it right.Before You Start
01
A kitchen scale is the one tool worth having. It makes the whole process more predictable.
02
Drop a small spoonful of starter into a glass of water. If it floats, it's active and ready. If it sinks, give it a few more hours before mixing.
03
Use a sharp blade or lame and score decisively in one clean motion. Hesitation causes dragging. One confident slash at a 45° angle is all you need.
04
Bulk ferment timing varies by season. When the dough is jiggly, almost doubled, and domed at the top, it's ready.
05
If your kitchen is cold, place the covered dough in the oven with just the light on — no heat, just the bulb. It creates a warm enough environment to keep fermentation moving at a steady pace.
Fine-Tune Your Dough
This recipe uses 70% hydration — a great starting point. Use the calculator to dial in a different flour weight or target hydration.
Open the Calculator →