Sourdough Sunday (2 Weekend Baking Timelines)
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I want to share my timeline for baking sourdough bread on Sunday. It's typically a day where everyone slows down, and if you work full time or are busier during the week, Sunday is a day where you're at home all day and are often more available for making sourdough bread.
With that being said, I want to show you my baking timeline for "sourdough Sunday" and how I have created two different routines, depending on what we have on that day. I hope they help you to be able to bake more over the weekend if that's when you have time available!
The thing is, sometimes we love hanging out at home on Sunday and I have all the time in the world to drink coffee, bake bread, get some weekday meal prep done and maybe some gardening. Sometimes we will also slow cook a brisket or piece of pork.
Other weekends, the sun is shining and the boys want to take their bikes to the lake ... I still want to bake bread and drink coffee of course. So I had to come up with a plan so we could all do what we want to do ... and still get a crusty loaf of sourdough at the end of it (because weekends without sourdough, well, we don't talk about those).
So here are two different Sunday Sourdough Timelines that you might like to use to ensure you can get everything done and produce a beautiful loaf of sourdough bread, just like this one!
Sunday Sourdough Timeline (Bake Sunday Night)
| TIME | PROCESS |
|---|---|
| 10pm | SATURDAY NIGHT Feed sourdough starter on Saturday night, before going to bed. Use 1:3:3 ratio to ensure peak Sunday morning. |
| 7am | SUNDAY MORNING Make coffee + initial mix of sourdough. |
| 8 am | Conduct 4 sets of stretch and folds over the next 2 hours while we make breakfast, do washing and other jobs around the house. |
| 10am | Cover the sourdough and allow to bulk ferment while we head out for coffee and some family time! |
| 2 pm | Arrive home, dough just needs a little bit more time in bulk ferment. |
| 3 pm | Shape sourdough, place into banneton and into the fridge for cold fermentation. |
| 8 pm | Bake the sourdough bread tonight and allow to cool ready to eat for breakfast tomorrow morning. |
| 7 am | MONDAY MORNING Alternatively, allow a longer cold ferment and bake the sourdough bread Monday morning. |
Of course if you want to bake this sourdough on Sunday morning instead, then you could always feed your sourdough starter on Friday night and then make the sourdough on Saturday if time allows, baking early Sunday morning.
Alternatively, you can use this timeline which sees you use Saturday night for overnight bulk fermentation and has you baking your loaf somewhere around lunch time on Sunday, ready for afternoon tea or Sunday dinner!
Sunday Sourdough Timeline (Bake Sunday Night)
| TIME | PROCESS |
|---|---|
| 2pm | SATURDAY AFTERNOON INTO EVENING Feed sourdough starter on Saturday morning using 1:1:1 ratio and keeping warm to ensure a faster peak. |
| 7pm | Initial mix of sourdough making sure to only use 50g of starter so that it can sit out overnight. |
| 8pm | Conduct 4 sets of stretch and folds over the next 2 hours while I watch a movie and fold the washing. |
| 10pm | Cover the sourdough and allow to bulk ferment overnight while I sleep! |
| 7am | SUNDAY MORNING Wake up, make coffee and check the dough! |
| 7.30am | Shape sourdough, place into banneton and into the fridge for cold fermentation. |
| 11am | Bake the sourdough bread and allow to cool ready to eat for afternoon tea with some homemade jam. |
| 1pm | Alternatively, allow a longer cold ferment and bake the sourdough bread just after lunch, giving it plenty of time to cool for dinner. |
A Few Things To Remember
Depending on where you are in your sourdough journey, I've put together a few tips to help you make the most of sourdough Sundays!
- Use a higher sourdough starter ratio to manipulate your sourdough starter into peaking overnight so it's ready to use when you get up in the morning.
- You can use these pointers to understand when bulk fermentation is finished.
- Use your fridge to cold proof your sourdough loaf so that you can bake it when it's convenient for you.
Want More Sourdough Resources?
Create Your Own Sourdough Starter
Learn how to easily create & nurture your very own sourdough starter so you can start making delicious sourdough bread.
