Here’s a proofing time table that you can use as a rough guide to prepare your bread. You can also see the impact that kneading and prefermented flour have on the total production duration.

The standard proofing temperature used is 28C (82F) unless stated otherwise.

There are other variables that affect the length of dough development. These include the bacteria levels in the flour and the water, the efficiency of kneading, the use of other ingredients and hydration levels.

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Throughout the bake, its best to learn how to test the dough and detect how the gluten and gas develops. This is will allow you to let the dough tell you when it is ready to move onto the next stage.

Learning how the dough feels is a better indicator than solely length of time. Use this page as a guide, not a handbook.

Bread making method Vs Time spent at each stage	Straight dough	Straight dough with autolyse	Dough with preferment	Long kneaded – short bulk	Standard artisan method with cool bulk fermentation	No knead cold bulk fermentation
Autolyse	0	30	0	0	0	0
Slow kneading	6	3	5	8	4	3
Fast kneading	6	5	5	7	3	0
Bulk fermentation	180	150	100	60	360	660*
Shaping	20	20	20	15	30	30
Proofing	120	120	100	80	150	150
Baking	35	35	35	35	35	35
TOTAL	367	363	265	205	582	878

* 8 hours fridge fermentation with 3 hours at ambient temperature.

Notice with no knead method, the total time is increased whilst the physical working of the dough decreases

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Straight dough method

This is a traditional straight dough made with yeast. We can then use this as a benchmark to compare the other methods.

Straight dough with autolyse

Notice how a 30 minute autolyse reduces how long the bread is kneaded for and how long the dough typically needs during bulk fermentation. The total length of production won’t reduce too much yet using this extra stage will benefit the bread.

Dough with preferment

Maturing a portion of the flour in the recipe improves the maturity of the dough. Using a prefermented flour levain reduces the amount of kneading required and the reduces the length of the bulk fermentation.

Quick bread process

This is a long knead, short rise process.To speed up the total baking time the dough can be kneaded further. This accelerates the rate that the gluten network forms to reduce the bulk fermentation. More yeast and using dough improvers such as ascorbic acid and malt or bean flour are often used. With these adaptations the bulk fermentation stage can be removed.

Standard artisan method with cool fermentation

Artisan bakers use cool temperatures to slowly develop their bread. You might not have much of an influence on your bread proofing temperature depending on your local climate! Artisan breads like these will be fermented at around 24C (75F).

The cool development aids the flavour and the develops more organic acids in the dough. Notice how the kneading time is reduced to avoid over-oxygenation.

No knead dough with a cool first rise

Extending the development time is done by cooling the dough in the fridge. This means the dough should only be lightly kneaded, or just incorporated. Allow the bulk fermentation to hydrate the flour and gently develop the gluten.

A no knead bread with a series of stretch and folds

This method of baking replaces kneading with a series of stretch and folds or slap and folds. I recommend placing a stretch and fold into the dough every hour or two in all of the above methods (to see why, and learn the common methods used, view the stretch and fold post).

There are many methods which replace kneading and use stretch and folds every 30 minutes or so for 2-4 hours. The dough is then moved straight on to shaping or left untouched to bulk ferment for a while to develop further. Different versions of the the traditional stretch and fold have been develop which work the gluten harder.

I’ve not been able to fit this into the table above, but here’s the diagram displaying the stages: