Building a Sourdough Baking Schedule

The hardest part of sourdough isn't the bread — it's fitting the bread around your life. Here are five proven schedules.

Schedule 1 — Weekend baker

Bake Saturday or Sunday. Standard for working bakers.

Friday evening — Take starter from fridge, feed 1:1:1 at 6 PM Saturday morning, 8 AM — Mix dough 8:30 AM — Autolyse, mix in salt 9 AM – 1 PM — Bulk ferment with 4 sets of folds 1 PM — Pre-shape 1:30 PM — Final shape, into banneton 2 PM — Refrigerate Sunday morning, 7 AM — Preheat oven 8 AM — Bake 10 AM — Eat

Schedule 2 — Same-day bake

Saturday morning to Saturday evening.

Friday evening — Feed starter at 8 PM Saturday morning, 7 AM — Mix dough 8 AM — Bulk fermentation begins 1 PM — Bulk done; shape; rest 30 minutes 1:30 PM — Final proof 4 PM — Preheat oven 5 PM — Bake 7 PM — Eat

Schedule 3 — Working professional, mid-week bake

Tuesday evening prep, Wednesday morning bake.

Tuesday morning — Feed starter before work Tuesday evening, 6 PM — Mix dough at home 6:30 PM — Folds while making dinner 10 PM — Pre-shape, final shape, into banneton 10:30 PM — Refrigerate Wednesday morning — Bake before work (or set timer to bake while you sleep — many ovens have delayed start)

Schedule 4 — Stay-home parent

Bake every other day. Smaller loaves to keep fresh.

Day 1, morning — Feed starter Day 1, evening — Mix dough, bulk overnight at room temperature Day 2, morning — Shape, refrigerate Day 2, evening — Bake Day 3 — Fresh bread; start again with feeding

Schedule 5 — Production baker (3–5 loaves/week)

Continuous rotation. Always something fermenting.

• Maintain starter on counter, not fridge
• Feed twice daily
• Mix new dough every 1–2 days
• Stagger bakes through the week
• Slice and freeze excess

Picking your schedule

Match your starter feeding pattern to your bake schedule:

• Weekly bake → Refrigerate starter, feed 12 hours before mixing
• 2–3 bakes/week → Refrigerate, feed twice in advance
• Daily bake → Counter starter, twice-daily feedings

Adjusting for life

Travel — Refrigerate starter, will be fine for 1–2 weeks. Longer trips: dehydrate or freeze.

Heat wave — Reduce starter percentage 5%. Move bulk to coolest spot. Use ice in mixing water.

Cold spell — Increase starter percentage 5%. Find warm spot (oven with light). Longer bulk.

Holidays — Plan ahead. Make extra. Freeze.

When the schedule fails

Sometimes life happens — you're 4 hours late getting back to your dough. Options:

• Stick it in the fridge (slows fermentation 4–8x)
• Skip a fold or two
• Reduce final proof
• Bake at the next reasonable opportunity

Sourdough is more forgiving than recipes suggest. The fridge is your reset button.

What I tell new bakers

Pick one schedule. Bake it 5 weeks straight. After that, you'll know whether the schedule fits your life — and what to adjust.