A Sourdough Schedule That Fits Around a Full-Time Job

Most sourdough recipes are written as if you're at home all day. Feed at 8, mix at 12, fold every 30 minutes until 4, shape at 6, bake at 8. Fine if you work from a kitchen. Useless if you're in an office until half past six.

The fix is the fridge. Cold slows fermentation to almost nothing, which means you can park the dough at nearly any stage and pick it up when you're free. Here are three schedules built on that.

Schedule 1: the weeknight loaf (bake Tuesday evening)

Sunday evening: take the starter out of the fridge, feed it, leave it on the counter overnight.

Monday morning, before work: feed the starter again. Ten minutes.

Monday evening, 18:30: starter should be peaked. Mix the dough — flour, water, starter, salt. Fifteen minutes.

Monday, 19:00–21:30: three or four stretch-and-folds, spaced 30–45 minutes apart. You're in the kitchen or the next room anyway. Five minutes each.

Monday, 22:00: shape and put it in a proofing basket, then straight into the fridge. Twenty minutes.

Tuesday evening: preheat, score straight from the fridge, bake. Fifty minutes, mostly unattended.

Total hands-on time: under an hour and a half, spread across two evenings.

Schedule 2: the weekend loaf (bake Sunday morning)

The relaxed version, and the best one for learning because you can watch the dough.

Friday evening: feed the starter, leave it out.

Saturday morning, 9:00: feed again. It should peak around midday.

Saturday, 12:00: mix.

Saturday, 12:30–16:30: bulk ferment with folds in the first two hours. Go out. Come back.

Saturday, 17:00: shape, basket, fridge.

Sunday, 9:00: bake. Bread for breakfast, still slightly warm by ten.

Schedule 3: the two-day cold bulk (maximum flexibility)

For weeks where you genuinely don't know which evening you'll be free.

Mix and do your folds on day one, then put the whole dough in the fridge for the bulk, not just the final prove. It'll happily sit for 24–48 hours. Shape it whenever you get a free half hour, prove for an hour or two at room temperature, and bake.

The bread is more sour this way — long cold fermentation favours acid production. Some people prefer it; if you don't, use less starter and a shorter cold period.

Four things that make any schedule easier

Keep a small starter in the fridge. A weekly feed is enough for weekly baking. You don't need a daily routine unless you bake daily — and a smaller starter means almost no discard.

Use less starter to buy time. Dropping from 20% to 10% roughly doubles your bulk. If you need the dough to still be going when you get home, that's your lever. Our guide to baker's percentage explains the numbers.

Use temperature as the other lever. Cooler room, slower dough. A cold hallway can stretch a bulk by hours — see proofing temperature.

Fold less than you think. Three folds in the first ninety minutes is plenty. The dough does not need supervision after that.

What to do when life interrupts

Bulk running long and you need to sleep? Fridge. Continue tomorrow.

Shaped loaf, can't bake tonight? Fridge. It'll be fine for up to about 24 hours, and better for it.

Starter peaked while you were out and has collapsed? Feed it again and use it at the next peak. Don't use a collapsed starter for a loaf you care about.

Missed it entirely? Put the starter back in the fridge and try again another day. Nothing is lost.

The point

Sourdough looks incompatible with a job because the recipes are written for someone with an empty Tuesday. Actual hands-on time for a loaf is about ninety minutes. Everything else is waiting, and waiting can happen in a fridge while you're at work.

Write down which schedule you used and how it went — within a month you'll have your own version that fits your week rather than someone else's. That's what our notebooks get used for.

Questions we get asked

Can you make sourdough if you work full time?

Yes. Hands-on time is about ninety minutes per loaf; the rest is waiting, and the fridge lets you park the dough at almost any stage. A Monday-evening mix and a Tuesday-evening bake is entirely realistic.

How long can dough stay in the fridge?

A shaped loaf holds up to about 24 hours, and improves in flavour. A bulk-stage dough can go 24–48 hours. Longer than that and the gluten starts to break down.

Do I have to feed my starter every day?

Only if you bake every day. Kept in the fridge, once a week is enough — take it out and give it a couple of feeds the day before you plan to bake.

How do I slow fermentation down to fit my day?

Use less starter, use cooler water, or put the dough somewhere cold. Halving the starter roughly doubles the bulk time, which is usually the easiest adjustment.