Saturday 6 PM Baking Schedule
Fresh sourdough ready at 6 PM on Saturday
To pull sourdough from the oven at 6 PM on Saturday, begin mixing about 11 hours earlier in a single unbroken day. The plan runs 6 timed stages with roughly 40 minutes of hands-on work; the rest is fermentation at 68-72°F. Shift the start by 30 minutes per 5°F kitchen drift.
Ready By
6 PM
Start At
7:00 AM
Kitchen Temp
moderate
What schedule mode should I use?
Pick overnight retard if you want flexibility — prep fits into a normal day and the cold retard can sit 12-72 hours before you bake. Choose same-day only when you have an uninterrupted 8-hour block and want the bread out that same evening.
How do I adjust for kitchen temperature?
Fermentation roughly doubles for every 15°F rise, so the warmer your kitchen, the earlier the dough is ready. Pick the band that matches your counter today and the timeline rebuilds around it — no math required.
Which mixing method fits this schedule?
Autolyse adds a 30-60 minute flour-and-water rest before the starter and salt go in, which builds extensibility and makes shaping easier. Skip it if you need a tighter timeline — the loaf still works, just with slightly less open crumb.
Use Autolyse (Recommended)What are the timed steps for this bake?
Each step below shows a clock time, a duration, and what to do with the dough at that moment. The list works backward from your target bake time, so following it in order lands the loaf out of the oven exactly when you asked for it.
- 1
Feed Starter
7:00 AM→11:00 AM4 hrFeed your sourdough starter with equal parts flour and water. Wait until it doubles in size and shows peak activity with bubbles throughout.
- 2
Autolyse
11:00 AM→11:30 AM30 minMix flour and water (no starter or salt yet) and let rest. This hydrates the flour and begins gluten development for a more extensible dough.
- 3
Bulk Fermentation
11:30 AM→3:30 PM4 hrAdd starter and salt to the dough. Perform stretch and folds every 30-45 minutes. Dough should increase in volume by 50-75% and show bubbles.
- 4
Shaping
3:30 PM→3:50 PM20 minPreshape the dough into a round, let rest 15-20 minutes, then perform final shaping. Create surface tension and place in proofing basket seam-side up.
- 5
Final Proof
3:50 PM→5:20 PM1 hr 30 minAllow shaped dough to proof at room temperature or in the refrigerator (cold retard). The dough is ready when it passes the poke test.
- 6
Baking
5:20 PM→6:00 PM40 minScore the dough and bake in a preheated Dutch oven or on a baking stone with steam. Start covered at high heat, then uncover to develop crust color.
How do I save this schedule?
Export every step to your calendar as separate events so each reminder fires at the right moment. The Google Calendar link opens a single consolidated event; the iCal download gives you one event per step for use in Apple Calendar, Outlook, or any other client.
What other schedules are similar?
The links below shift either the bake day or the target hour while keeping the rest of the setup intact, so you can compare timelines without re-picking every option.