When it comes to making bread, the stretch and fold technique in making sourdough is a crucial step to baking great bread at home. This process replaces kneading in a conventional yeasted bread but is vital in developing gluten to trap the gases from fermentation for a light, airy loaf.
When I started baking at home, I just threw all the ingredients in our stand mixer. Once combined, every thirty minutes or so, I would pulse the mixer to pester the dough, thinking that was the same thing. It was easy and fast, but it didn’t make great looking bread; I mean seriously take a look at the pitiful thing I baked on my first try.
Now, I look forward to stretching and folding. It makes me feel connected to my loaves now and would never think to skip this step.
How to Stretch and Fold
Most sourdough doesn’t need kneading but benefits from a series of folds. Leaving the dough in your bowl, dive a wet hand down one side of the dough, pull it up in a long stretch and fold it back over itself, then rotate the bowl and repeat this 3–4 times.
One baking pro suggested thinking of the bowl as a compass that you turn from North to East for the first stretch and fold, then move to South to repeat, again to the West, and finally to the North for the final stretch and fold.
Maurizio Leo, at The Perfect Loaf, suggests repeating this for 2–5 minutes until the dough smooths some and comes together, forming a tight ball. He suggests, repeating this every 15 minutes for the first two sets and every 30 minutes after that.
“For each set wet your hands, grab one side and stretch it up and over the dough to the other side. Rotate the bowl 180° and perform another stretch and fold (this forms a long rectangle in the bowl). Then, rotate the bowl 90° and do another stretch and fold. Finally, rotate the bowl 180° and do one last stretch and fold.
Give the dough 4-5 sets of stretch and folds.”1
I have found 3–4 times every 30 minutes during the first 90 minutes before the bulk works just fine. I set a timer to remind me when 30 minutes are up and go for it. But Peter Reinhart has a different approach:
“To stretch and fold the dough in the bowl, with wet or oiled hands, reach under one end of the dough and stretch it out, then fold it back onto the top of the dough. Do this from the other end, and then from each side. Then flip the entire mass of dough over and tuck it into a ball. It should be significantly firmer than it was before you did the stretch and fold, though still very soft and fragile.
“Cover the bowl (not the dough) with plastic wrap and let it sit for 10 minutes, then repeat the stretch and fold process. Once again, cover the bowl and let the dough sit at room temperature for 10 minutes, then repeat the stretch and fold process twice more. The entire process should be completed in less than 40 minutes.”2
The Value of Stretching and Folding Sourdough
The bakers at Abigail’s Oven love to learn from the best. As Martha Levie explains in nearly every Sourdough training class, “The main book that we learned from, is Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson.” She points out that the stretch and fold technique allows you to develop gluten and firms up the dough without a lot of mixing or any kneading. But most importantly, she says, “it develops the gluten to trap gases from fermentation.” The process opens the crumb and makes a light and airy loaf.
Robertson, the co-founder of Tartine Bakery, explains:
“Flour is made up of starch and protein. When it is hydrated with water, the starch and proteins absorb the water and swell. The proteins form connected chains that constitute the structure of the dough, which is developed by stretching and folding the dough as you give it turns during the bulk fermentation. The resulting tiny air pockets form the base cell structure of the crumb. They fill with gas during the bulk rise and expand during baking to create an open-textured crumb.
“The low-acid/high-hydration approach …necessitates a lengthy bulk fermentation during which the structure of the dough is developed by turning the dough in its container. With each turn, the strength of the dough increases exponentially. Turns should be more vigorous at the start of the bulk fermentation and gentle toward the end so as not to deflate any trapped gas that is leavening the dough.”3
Peter Reinhart author of Artisan Breads Every Day and one of the world’s leading bread authorities, explains why this step is so important:
“Stretch and fold is a method that makes it possible to use minimal mixing times even with doughs with high hydration. [It is used] to strengthen the dough and make it more buoyant. …this will generally improve the performance of most of the bread.
“The key to the stretch and fold method is understanding that stretching out the dough and then folding it over itself helps organize the gluten network in much the same way as mixing does. Before using the stretch and fold technique, you must mix the dough until the gluten has formed. (If you need a refresher: Gluten forms as a result of the bonding of the proteins glutenin and gliadin, which are present in the endosperm of certain grains, primarily wheat and rye.)
“One stretch and fold is like mixing for another minute, yet it takes only a few seconds. As you use this technique, you’ll immediately feel the dough strengthen, becoming a soft, supple ball. I have seen dough with over 90 percent hydration come together under the skilled hands of bakers using the stretch and fold method. In other books and recipes, you may see this technique referred to as turning and folding the dough.”4
Sure, you can skip the stretching and folding in making sourdough bread, but honestly, it is so much better when you take the few minutes needed to add this technique.
Let our other readers know about how this works out for you in the comment section below.
References
1 Maurizio Leo, “Sourdough Bread With All-Purpose Flour,” The Perfect Loaf.
2 Peter Reinhart, Peter Reinhart’s Artisan Breads Every Day, Potter/Ten Speed/Harmony/Rodale. Kindle Edition.
3 Chad Robertson, Tartine Bread, Chronicle Books LLC (p. 74). Kindle Edition.
4 Reinhart, ibid.
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