Baking schedules · Your kitchen companion

Sourdough schedule planner

Choose your bake start and work backwards to plan each sourdough step.

For all countries

Preparing your cooking tool...

Bake start is when the bread goes into the oven. Times use the 24-hour clock in your chosen zone.

Step lengths

Editable starting points. Pick hours and minutes or type in the labelled unit. Each step: 1 minute to one week.

Quiet hours

Warnings check step start times. Waiting, including cold proof, can continue overnight.

View worked example

Worked example: Saturday at 09:00

Start baking on Saturday at 09:00. Quiet hours are 23:00 to 07:00.

  1. Feed starter

    Friday 07:45.

  2. Mix and rest

    Friday 13:45.

  3. Bulk fermentation

    Friday 14:45.

  4. Shape

    Friday 19:45.

  5. Cold proof

    Friday 20:15.

  6. Preheat oven

    Saturday 08:15.

  7. Start baking

    Saturday 09:00.

Result: Feed starter Friday 07:45; mix 13:45; bulk 14:45; shape 19:45; cold proof 20:15; preheat Saturday 08:15; bake 09:00. No quiet-hours warnings.

Starter 6 h; mix and rest 1 h; bulk 5 h; shape 30 min; cold proof 12 h; preheat 45 min. These are editable starting points.

A little help in the kitchen

How to use it

  1. Choose the date and time you want to put the bread in the oven. The planner starts with your device's time zone; change it if you are planning for somewhere else. Dates must be today or later in that zone.

  2. Enter your recipe's starter-to-peak, mix and rest, bulk fermentation, shaping, cold-proof and preheat durations. The filled-in durations are editable starting points, not a verified fermentation timetable.

  3. Set quiet hours or turn warnings off, then choose Calculate schedule. Read the day and clock time beside each step. Adjust the bake start or step lengths if a task starts at an inconvenient time.

  4. Schedules longer than a week show one day at a time on phones. Choose Schedule day to see another day's steps. Print and calendar exports include every day. Save the plan in this browser, create a share link, print or save a PDF, or download an .ics file to import into your calendar. Clear removes the bake date, time and result and restores starting step lengths and quiet hours; saved plans stay available.

How it works

The planner subtracts preheat from the bake start, then cold proof, shaping, bulk fermentation, mix and rest, and starter-to-peak time. Each step starts when the preceding step ends. Formula: first start = bake start minus the sum of all six durations.

Quiet hours use the selected time zone and check every step's start, including Start baking. The start of the quiet window is included; its end is excluded. For 23:00 to 07:00, 23:00 triggers a warning and 07:00 does not. A passive wait can span quiet hours without a warning. The planner flags conflicts and leaves your chosen bake start fixed.

The example takes 25 hours 15 minutes from feeding the starter to starting the bake. That elapsed time includes waiting. The default durations come from the supplied SC-06 example and are editable planning inputs; no external fermentation data is used. Follow the timings and readiness cues in your own recipe.

Durations use elapsed minutes, so clock changes can alter the displayed wall-time gap between steps. A bake time that does not exist, or occurs twice during a daylight-saving change, is rejected; choose an unambiguous time. Historical saved or shared schedules remain readable.

Calendar events preserve the same instants in UTC. Your calendar displays them in its own time zone. The six preparation events have their entered durations; Start baking is a point-in-time marker, because this tool does not estimate baking or cooling time.

Frequently asked questions

Does bake time mean the bread is ready to eat?

Bake start is the time you put the bread into the oven. Baking and cooling durations are not included in this schedule.

Are the starting durations a recommended sourdough recipe?

They are editable planning inputs from the tool's worked example. No external fermentation timetable is used. Enter the durations your own recipe needs and follow its readiness cues.

Why does overnight cold proof not trigger a quiet-hours warning?

Warnings check when each step starts. A cold proof beginning before quiet hours can continue through the night. Starting it during quiet hours triggers a warning.

Will the planner automatically move steps out of quiet hours?

It keeps your chosen bake start and entered durations. Warnings show which steps start during quiet hours so you can adjust the bake time or step lengths. Turning warnings off leaves the schedule unchanged.

How are time zones and clock changes handled?

All schedule times use the selected zone. Durations measure actual elapsed minutes across daylight-saving changes. Nonexistent or repeated bake start times are rejected. An imported calendar displays events in the calendar's own zone.

Can I save, share, print or export the plan?

Save stores the settings in browser storage. Share link includes them in its fragment. Save as PDF downloads the schedule and general note. Add to calendar offers the complete event file to your phone where supported, or downloads it for import. It includes a Start baking marker. Delete my data clears your local saved plans and preferences.