HOW TO STRETCH, FOLD, AND SHAPE YOUR SOURDOUGH

One of my favorite parts of making a sourdough bread loaf is getting my hands dirty with stretching, folding, and shaping the dough!

It’s truly not a complicated process but can feel a little overwhelming at first. I’m hoping to make it easy and stress free for you.

The whole purpose of stretching and folding the dough is to simply build tension in the dough so that when it is baking, it gets a nice, beautiful rise. If you don’t build that tension, your dough is going to come out flat and dense.

Rise Times & How Long Must You Wait?

For me, the worst part of sourdough is the time and patience it takes to allow the dough to rise before you bake, and ultimately devour your loaf.

If you need a super easy and delicious bread recipe, I recommend checking out my favorite Artisan Sourdough Loaf Recipe!

Once my dough is mixed up, I transition it into a covered, large mixing bowl to rise.

Pro tip: I do one round of quarter folds right away. To perform a quarter fold, pull one side of your dough up, not letting the dough break at all. Then stretch and fold the piece of dough all way to the other side of the bowl. Turn the bowl a quarter turn and repeat 3-4 more times. See the How to Stretch Your Dough section below.

Then place a damp tea towel or bowl cover over the bowl and set aside for a couple hours to allow the dough to double in size.

Over the next couple of hours, I stretch and fold the dough with quarter folds every hour or so. Basically whenever I’m able to, and I don’t stress over this part. This is just to build tension in the dough.

Some people say you have to stretch and fold every 45 minutes while the dough is rising – but honestly, I’m busy and don’t always have the time for that. Do what you can – it’ll still turn out delicious and beautiful!

How to Stretch and Fold Your Dough:

This is what you’ll do every 45 mins to an hour (ideally), if able. I don’t want to dismiss this part but again, don’t stress about the exact timing of these folds. Do what you can when you’re home and available.

The stretch and folds are all about building tension to get a really good, beautiful rise when baking. If you don’t perform the folds, you may get a really flat loaf. Don’t worry though, it’ll still taste delicious!

As described in the Pro Tip section above on quarter folds, you’re going to pull up your dough on one side so it stretches, careful not to break or rip the dough, and pull it across to the other side. Turn the bowl a quarter turn and perform again 3 more times until you’ve stretched all sides of your dough.

You will do this progress of quarter stretch and folds roughly 2-3 times over the course of a couple of hours. Remember, ideally you’re preforming quarter folds every 45min to an hour, if able.

Then you’re going to change your technique, if you want. You can continue with quarter folds if that feels easier for you or you can switch to coil folds. You may have to 1-2 more rounds of folds – either type (the stretch and folds, or the coil folds).

To perform coil folds, you’re going to lift the dough up by the center of the dough and let it fold underneath itself. Again, you may only need to do this 1-2 more times over the course of an hour or two.

No matter which style of folds you chose to perform, the important thing is that your dough is building tension and will look and feel much more firm instead of floppy and wet. It will get to the point where you can’t really stretch it anymore and then you know you’re ready to shape the dough.

How to Shape Your Dough:

After the dough has been stretched and folded, it’s time to get to shaping.

First you want to spread out our dough on the counter, getting it fairly thin but not thin enough that it rips.

Pro tip: If you’re adding a filling to your bread, this is where you would do that.

Next, fold your dough in thirds like the picture below. Then roll your dough up like you would an old school sleeping bag and pinch the ends together.

To get the dough nice and round, we use the push and pull technique. You’re going to slightly push forward and then pull the dough back around towards yourself in a circular motion. This allows for continued tension while forming the dough into your loaf.

Now that you’re dough is perfectly shaped, it’s time to cover it back up and pop in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to chill before baking it. You can leave it in the fridge overnight, but may need to reshape it some when you’re ready to bake.

If you’re looking for ways to make Beautiful Designs on your bread, check out my post here!

Hope you enjoyed this post, comment below if you have any questions!