Guide
Baking Around a Job: Sourdough Schedules That Fit a Work Week
Sourdough does not know you have a 9-to-5. The fridge does. Fit temperature and time to the hours you are actually home, and the loaf stops owning the calendar.
The dough only cares about temperature and time. All three schedules below assume a single 850–900 g lean boule: 500 g flour, 70–75% hydration by the standard method (all water ÷ all flour, including starter water), 2% salt, 20% ripe levain. If your calculator excludes starter water from the headline number, your 72% will feel like this dough’s 75%. Same dough, different label.
The temperature lever
Fermentation rate roughly doubles every 15°F in the range home bakers use. A bulk that takes 5 hours at 75°F takes about 8 hours at 68°F and 2.5–3 hours at 82°F. A cheap probe thermometer in the dough is worth more than another recipe.
| Dough temp | Rough bulk to 50–60% rise | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
| 68°F | 7–9 hours | Overnight on the counter in a cool house |
| 75°F | 4–5.5 hours | Evening mix, shape before bed |
| 78–80°F | 3–4 hours | Short window after work |
| 39–42°F (fridge) | 12–24 hours after a short warm start | You will not be home |
Schedule A — mix after work, bake tomorrow night
For someone home at 6:00 p.m. and gone by 7:30 a.m.
Tuesday 6:15 p.m. Feed the starter 1:5:5 (20 g starter / 100 g flour / 100 g water) Tuesday evening. At 22°C it peaks in about 14 hours — mid-morning Wednesday. Refrigerate it at peak; the cold holds the culture until the evening mix. In a warm kitchen it runs faster, so feed closer to bedtime if yours sits above 76°F. A 1:2:2 feed peaks in 4–6 hours and would be long past peak by Wednesday evening — too acidic for this schedule.
Wednesday 6:15 p.m. Mix final dough. Target dough temp 76–78°F. Rest 30 minutes. Three sets of stretch-and-folds, 20 minutes apart (6:45, 7:05, 7:25).
Wednesday 7:30 p.m. to Thursday 7:00 a.m. Cover and refrigerate the dough in the bowl (cold bulk).
Thursday 6:00 p.m. Divide if needed, preshape, rest 20 minutes, shape, into a floured basket.
Thursday 6:30 p.m. to Friday 7:00 a.m. Cold proof in the fridge.
Friday 6:00 p.m. Preheat Dutch oven 45 minutes at 485°F. Score. Bake 20 minutes covered, 18 uncovered.
Two nights of fridge time is not a defect. Flavor improves. Oven spring stays if the warm bulk on Wednesday was not skipped.
Schedule B — weekend bake, zero weeknight bench time
Friday 9:00 p.m. Feed starter 1:3:3 and refrigerate immediately. It wakes slowly.
Saturday 8:00 a.m. Take starter out. It should be rising. If not, give it one 1:1:1 feed and wait 3 hours.
Saturday 11:00 a.m. Mix. Dough temp 75°F. Folds at 11:30, 11:50, 12:10.
Saturday 11:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Warm bulk while you run errands. Check at 3:00. If it has risen 50–60% and jiggles, shape. If it is sluggish, leave it until 4:30.
Saturday 4:00 p.m. Shape. Basket into the fridge.
Sunday 8:00–10:00 a.m. Bake from cold. Same 485°F pot routine.
This is the schedule that survives soccer and grocery runs. The only committed blocks are Saturday late morning (mix + three folds in a 70-minute window) and the Sunday morning bake.
Schedule C — same-weeknight loaf
Only if the kitchen is 76°F or you have a proof box.
5:45 p.m. Mix with 25% levain instead of 20%, dough temp 80°F.
Folds at 6:05, 6:20, 6:35.
7:45–8:15 p.m. Shape when the dough is up 50%.
8:15–9:30 p.m. Room-temp proof in the basket. Preheat at 8:45.
9:30 p.m. Bake. Cool on a rack overnight. Slice tomorrow.
Same-night bakes run hotter and use more levain. They taste milder. They exist so you are not a hostage.
What not to do
Do not mix at 10 p.m. and hope a 68°F kitchen finishes bulk by 6 a.m. without checking. Either fridge it at 10:30 after one fold, or get a $15 plug-in seedling mat under the bowl and actually hit 75°F.
Do not bake from a warm, fully doubled basket after an 8-hour unattended bulk. That loaf is already done fermenting. Put it in the fridge two hours earlier next time.
Starter that matches the calendar
A starter that peaks in 4 hours at 77°F after a 1:2:2 feed is ready for Schedules A and C. If it takes 8 hours, either keep it warmer or feed 1:1:1 so it fits the evening window.
Store the jar in the fridge after Thursday’s bake. Friday night feed and leave out only if you are on Schedule B. Two feeds a week is enough for these schedules. Daily feeding is for bakeries, not for one loaf.
Write the schedule on a sticky note on the flour bin: feed day, mix day, bake day. The dough does not need a new formula when life gets loud. It needs the same 20% levain and a fridge. If you miss Thursday shape, the dough can sit cold until Saturday. Cold is the pause button. Room-temp bulk is not.
Key numbers
- 20% levain, 75°F dough: 4–5.5 h bulk to 50–60% rise.
- Fridge bulk or proof: 12–24 h at 39–42°F after a short warm start.
- After-work mix: folds done in a 70-minute window, then cold.
- Weekend version: Saturday 11:00 mix, Sunday morning bake.
- Same-night: 25% levain, 80°F dough, bake ~3.5–4 h after mix.