A dependable everyday loaf with four ingredients, one long fermentation, and enough flexibility to fit real life. Use the clock as a guide; let the dough cues make the call.
The example rhythm starts Friday morning and lands at a fresh loaf on Saturday. The cold proof timing is flexible - more time trades off more flavor development at the cost of reduced oven spring.
01 Friday morning · 6–10 hours before mixing
Feed the starter
Feed your starter before you want to make the dough. A simple 1:1:1 feed works well: for example, 20 g starter, 20 g flour, and 20 g water. Aim for a thick pancake-batter consistency.
Your starter is ready when it has clearly risen and looks bubbly. If it is sluggish, keep it at room temperature and feed it morning and night until it reliably doubles after feeding within roughly 6–12 hours. Rye flour can give a tired starter a useful boost.
Between bakes: once your starter is healthy, keep it in the fridge and wake it up when bread day is coming.
When the starter is near its peak, save some mother starter for future loaves, and whisk your recipe's starter, salt, and warm water together in a large bowl. Add the flour and mix by hand until no dry flour remains. The dough will be sticky with a rough appearance.
Scrape the dough from your hands, cover the bowl, and let it rest for 10 minutes - the gluten matrix is developing. Feed your mother starter and return it to the fridge.
After a short rest, give the dough one long stretch-and-fold session for about 1–2 minutes. Stop when it looks smoother and mostly holds its shape when you leave it alone.
Stretching and folding the dough builds the gluten matrix and texture you want (and replaces kneading).
The Edge: Bench & Bowl Scraper →
03 Overnight · about 8–10 hours at 70°F
Bulk Fermentation
Cover the bowl and leave the dough at room temperature. Around 70°F, this often takes 8–10 hours; a cooler kitchen will take longer and a warmer kitchen will move faster.
Move on when the dough has roughly doubled, is beginning to pull from the sides of the bowl, shows bubbles along the top or edges, and has a glossy surface with a soft jiggle when you tap the bowl.
Read the dough, not the timer: fermentation is a biological process, so the visual cues matter more than an exact hour count.
Volume, bubbles, sheen, and a gentle wobble are the cues.
04 Saturday morning · then warm or cold proof
Shape and choose your finish time
Gently turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape it into a round. Line a bowl or banneton with a towel, dust it lightly with flour, and place the dough inside seam-side up.
Cover it and proof until the loaf looks puffy and has risen about 20%. For a same-day bake, keep it at room temperature for roughly 2–4 hours. For more flavor development (and lifestyle flexibility), refrigerate it for about 12 hours or up to 3 days, knowing the loaf will continue to ferment and change as it sits.
Preheat the oven to 450°F for 30 minutes with your covered baking pot inside; heat the lid too. Cut parchment to fit the pot, leaving enough at the sides to lift the loaf later.
If the loaf is not already cold, put it in the fridge for about 30 minutes while the oven preheats, which will make the dough hold better during scoring. Turn it onto parchment and use a razor blade or small serrated knife to make your score.
A decisive score gives expanding dough somewhere useful to go.
06 35–45 minutes · then cool 1 hour
Bake until the crust looks right to you
Lower the loaf into the hot baking vessel, cover it, and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the lid and continue baking for another 10–20 minutes, until the crust reaches the color you like.
Move the loaf to a wire rack and let it cool for around one hour before slicing for the crumb to finish setting. (I usually can't wait that long ;) ).
That’s the whole loaf. Flour, water, salt, starter, and a little love.
Covered first for steam and spring; uncovered at the end for color.
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Wild Loaf Lab
From the Lab · Recipe
Our Go-To Recipe
A dependable everyday loaf with four ingredients, one long fermentation, and enough flexibility to fit real life. Use the clock as a guide; let the dough cues make the call.
1 loaf70% hydration450°F bake
Friday morningFeed the starter
Friday eveningMix + bulk overnight
Saturday onwardShape, proof + bake
The formula
Four ingredients. One loaf.
Active, bubbly starter
50 g¼ cup
Warm water
350 g1⅓ cups + 2 Tbsp
White bread flour
500 g4 cups + 2 Tbsp
Fine salt
10 g1½ tsp
Use the gram weights when you can. They make this loaf much easier to repeat.
The method
Six simple steps.
The example rhythm starts Friday morning and lands at a fresh loaf on Saturday. The cold proof timing is flexible - more time trades off more flavor development at the cost of reduced oven spring.
01 · Friday morning · 6–10 hours before mixing
Feed the starter
Feed your starter before you want to make the dough. A simple 1:1:1 feed works well: for example, 20 g starter, 20 g flour, and 20 g water. Aim for a thick pancake-batter consistency.
Your starter is ready when it has clearly risen and looks bubbly. If it is sluggish, keep it at room temperature and feed it morning and night until it reliably doubles after feeding within roughly 6–12 hours. Rye flour can give a tired starter a useful boost.
Between bakes: once your starter is healthy, keep it in the fridge and wake it up when bread day is coming.
02 · Friday evening · about 15 minutes hands-on
Mix, rest, then fold
When the starter is near its peak, save some mother starter for future loaves, and whisk your recipe's starter, salt, and warm water together in a large bowl. Add the flour and mix by hand until no dry flour remains. The dough will be sticky with a rough appearance.
Scrape the dough from your hands, cover the bowl, and let it rest for 10 minutes - the gluten matrix is developing. Feed your mother starter and return it to the fridge.
After a short rest, give the dough one long stretch-and-fold session for about 1–2 minutes. Stop when it looks smoother and mostly holds its shape when you leave it alone.
03 · Overnight · about 8–10 hours at 70°F
Bulk Fermentation
Cover the bowl and leave the dough at room temperature. Around 70°F, this often takes 8–10 hours; a cooler kitchen will take longer and a warmer kitchen will move faster.
Move on when the dough has roughly doubled, is beginning to pull from the sides of the bowl, shows bubbles along the top or edges, and has a glossy surface with a soft jiggle when you tap the bowl.
Read the dough, not the timer: fermentation is a biological process, so the visual cues matter more than an exact hour count.
04 · Saturday morning · then warm or cold proof
Shape and choose your finish time
Gently turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape it into a round. Line a bowl or banneton with a towel, dust it lightly with flour, and place the dough inside seam-side up.
Cover it and proof until the loaf looks puffy and has risen about 20%. For a same-day bake, keep it at room temperature for roughly 2–4 hours. For more flavor development (and lifestyle flexibility), refrigerate it for about 12 hours or up to 3 days, knowing the loaf will continue to ferment and change as it sits.
05 · Before baking · preheat 30 minutes
Chill, turn out, and score
Preheat the oven to 450°F for 30 minutes with your covered baking pot inside; heat the lid too. Cut parchment to fit the pot, leaving enough at the sides to lift the loaf later.
If the loaf is not already cold, put it in the fridge for about 30 minutes while the oven preheats, which will make the dough hold better during scoring. Turn it onto parchment and use a razor blade or small serrated knife to make your score.
06 · 35–45 minutes · then cool 1 hour
Bake until the crust looks right to you
Lower the loaf into the hot baking vessel, cover it, and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the lid and continue baking for another 10–20 minutes, until the crust reaches the color you like.
Move the loaf to a wire rack and let it cool for around one hour before slicing for the crumb to finish setting. (I usually can't wait that long ;) ).
That’s the whole loaf. Flour, water, salt, starter, and a little love.
