Stretch And Folds Versus Coil Folds

You pull your dough out of the first hour of bulk fermentation and it has barely moved. The surface looks smooth enough, but when you tilt the bowl, the dough slides like a single soft mass with no resistance. This is the moment when folding earns its reputation. A few rounds of intentional stretch and fold or coil fold will build the gluten network your dough needs to trap gas, hold its shape through proofing, and give you a crust worth cutting into.

Neither folding method requires skill in the way that shaping does. Both are forgiving, and both accomplish the same goal: aligning and strengthening the gluten network while keeping the gas already produced by fermentation safely intact. The difference lies in technique and in which dough hydrations each handles best.

Why We Fold At All

Traditional kneading builds gluten by working the dough continuously for ten or more minutes. Folding builds the same network in short, intermittent bursts during the first two hours of bulk fermentation. The result is often better because the dough also has time to ferment between sessions.

When you stretch and fold, you are orienting gluten strands in new directions and stacking them on top of one another. The network that results is more layered and more capable of holding gas bubbles than one built purely by kneading. Folding also degasses the dough slightly, redistributing the yeast and giving it access to fresh sugars. Each session of folding sets off a small burst of fresh fermentation activity.

The timing matters. Most recipes call for folding every 30 minutes during the first two hours of bulk fermentation, giving you three or four sessions total. Early in bulk, the dough is weaker and you fold gently. Later sessions feel different because the dough has developed more tension and resists more, which is exactly what you want to feel.

Stretch And Folds: The Method

Wet your hand before reaching into the bowl. Dry hands grip the surface and risk tearing gluten strands instead of stretching them. One wet hand does the job.

Reach under the dough on the far side of the bowl. Grab a portion, lift it up as high as it will stretch without tearing, then fold it over to the opposite side of the dough mass. Rotate the bowl 90 degrees. Reach under again, lift, fold. Rotate again and repeat until you have completed four folds and returned to your starting point. That is one set.

The stretch should feel like slow pulling, not snapping. If the dough tears, you are either pulling too fast, the dough is too cold, or you are too early in bulk and the gluten is still weak. Give it five more minutes of rest and try again with less force.

This method works well for doughs in the 65% to 75% hydration range where the dough has enough body to lift and pull without sagging completely. At these hydrations, you can feel resistance in the stretch and the fold feels satisfying and controlled.

For anything in the 60% range or below, the dough may be stiff enough that a traditional fold (like a letter fold on a lightly floured surface) makes more sense than in-bowl stretching. Pull the dough out, fold it into thirds like a letter, rotate 90 degrees, and fold again. Then return it to the bowl.

Coil Folds: When The Dough Is Too Wet To Stretch

At 78% hydration and above, standard stretch and folds become difficult. The dough does not hold a shape when you lift it. It wants to pour through your fingers and pool back into the bowl before you can fold it. Forcing a stretch at this hydration usually means tearing wet strands rather than building anything useful.

Coil folds solve this by working with the dough’s weight rather than against it. Reach both hands under the center of the dough and lift slowly, letting the ends hang. The dough folds under itself as you lower it back down. Rotate the bowl 90 degrees and repeat. Four lifts in a slow rotation is one set.

The motion is quieter and less dramatic than stretch and folds, but the structural effect is similar. You are building layers without exposing the dough to the kind of tension that causes tearing. Bakers who work with high-hydration ciabatta or wet sourdough loaves often prefer coil folds throughout the entire bulk fermentation precisely because the dough never needs to handle the kind of pull that a stretch fold demands.

For doughs around 75% to 77% hydration, either method works. Try stretch and folds first. If the dough feels coherent and lifts cleanly, continue. If it tears or sags uncontrollably, switch to coil folds.

How Many Sets And When To Stop

The standard approach is four sets of folds during the first two hours of bulk, with 30 minutes of rest between each set. After four sets, leave the dough alone and let it bulk ferment without interruption until you see the signs of readiness: a domed top, visible bubbles at the edge of the bowl, a slight jiggle when you shake the bowl gently, and roughly 50% to 75% volume increase depending on your formula’s hydration and fermentation temperature.

You do not have to complete all four sets if the dough is already strong. After three sets, pinch a small piece and pull it slowly. If it stretches several inches without breaking, the gluten is well developed. An extra set at this point adds little and risks degassing work you want to preserve.

How hydration affects development is covered in detail at Hydration In Bread Dough. The key connection here is that a higher-hydration dough often needs more sets of coil folds, not fewer, because the network forms more slowly when water is abundant.

Common Mistakes

Folding too late in bulk is the most common problem. If you start folding after 90 minutes, the gluten has begun setting in the pattern of however the dough has been sitting. Early folds, in the first 45 minutes, do the most work.

Using too much force with a wet dough causes tearing that the dough cannot easily repair. A torn gluten network produces uneven texture and weak gas retention in the final loaf. When in doubt, go slower and pull less.

Forgetting to wet your hand is a small thing that creates a real problem. Dry skin drags on the dough surface and can rip holes rather than create a clean lift. Keep a small bowl of water next to your proofing vessel and dip your hand before every set.

Finally, some bakers fold too aggressively late in bulk when the dough has become very extensible and airy. After the third or fourth set, the dough should be treated gently. Aggressive handling at this stage degasses it and undoes some of what fermentation built.

From Folding To Shaping

After the final fold and the bulk rest, your dough is ready for the next stage. If you are making a round loaf, the shaping process picks up directly from where bulk fermentation ends. The tension you built through each fold will be visible in the way the dough holds its shape on the bench. A well-folded, well-fermented dough will pass the windowpane test before shaping and will stay taut through the transfer to the banneton.

The relationship between folding and shaping is direct. Every set of folds you did during bulk contributes to the surface tension you build during shaping. Bakers who skip folding often find that their dough spreads rather than rises, because the gluten network that should be holding gas vertically was never fully developed.