Sourdough is backwards.
Most recipes are written forward — start here, do this, then this, then bake. But sourdough doesn't work that way. The bake time is fixed in your day (you want to eat the bread for dinner, or pull it from the oven before work), and every step before the bake has to fit backwards from that moment.
Working forward from "let me start my starter now" is how loaves end up baked at midnight or shaped at 4am. Working backward from "the bread comes out at 9am Sunday" tells you exactly when to feed, mix, fold, shape, and retard. The math is straightforward. The mental model is the hard part — and that's what this planner replaces.
The four schedules.
Different bakers work to different rhythms. Bakebench supports the four most common:
| Schedule | Total span | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Same-day | ~8 hours | Mix in the morning, bake in the evening. No fridge involvement. |
| Standard | ~14 hours | Mix in the morning, short cold retard in the afternoon, bake the same evening. |
| Overnight retard | ~24 hours | Mix in the afternoon, cold retard overnight, bake the next morning. Most home bakers default here. |
| Long cold retard | ~48 hours | Two-night retard. Develops the deepest flavor and most open crumb. |
How temperature shifts the timeline.
Bulk fermentation — the long stretch where dough doubles before shaping — is the most temperature-sensitive part of the bake. At 22°C (typical room temperature), bulk takes 4-6 hours for most doughs. At 26°C, it's 3-4 hours. At 18°C, it can stretch to 8 hours or more.
Bakebench adjusts the bulk ferment duration based on the temperature you set. The other steps (mixing, folding, shaping, baking) stay roughly constant — they're not as sensitive. So when you slide the temperature, watch how the bulk ferment block expands or contracts while the rest stays put.
Why .ics export matters.
A printed schedule sitting on your kitchen counter is fine. A schedule with phone notifications on your wrist is better. The Add to Calendar button downloads a standard .ics file — open it on your phone or computer, and your calendar app (Google, Apple, Outlook, anything) imports every step as a separate event with its own notification.
Now you don't need to remember "stretch and fold every 30 minutes for the next 2 hours." Your phone reminds you. The schedule fits into the rest of your day instead of forcing you to organize the day around it.
Common scheduling mistakes.
1. Forgetting starter feed time
Your starter needs to be at peak when you mix the dough. Most schedules need 4-6 hours of starter activation before mixing. Forgetting this is the #1 cause of failed bakes. Bakebench accounts for this automatically — the first step in every schedule is "Feed starter."
2. Skipping cold retard
Even a short 1-2 hour cold retard improves crumb structure and slashes the chance of overproofed dough. The same-day schedule omits it for speed; the others all include it.
3. Underestimating bulk ferment in cool kitchens
If your kitchen runs cool (18-20°C), bulk ferment can take 8+ hours, not 4. Many recipes assume 22-24°C ambient. Setting the temperature slider to your actual room temp is more important than people realize.
4. Trying to compress the bake
Sourdough doesn't shortcut well. Skipping the autolyse, rushing the bulk, omitting the final proof — each of these subtracts from the final loaf in ways that compound. If you only have 6 hours, accept that the same-day schedule is the right tool, and don't try to squeeze a 24-hour schedule into it.