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The stretch and fold technique: Your way to easier, tastier, no-knead bread
Published 3 months ago • 4 min read
The stretch and fold technique: Your way to easier, tastier, no-knead bread
In this post I’ll be looking at the stretch and fold technique: how and why you might want to use it, and when you can skip it entirely.
I’ll be sharing two different ways to stretch and fold, as well as the ‘squash and fold’ method that you may want to use for stiff doughs, and doughs containing more than 18% rye.
Why ‘no knead’?
Many older bread recipes call for mixing the dough and then kneading solidly for 15 minutes or so. Not everyone has a spare 15 minutes.
Kneading can also be hard on people with arthritis, RSI, and other issues. When working with 100% whole grain doughs, kneading straight after mixing is going to achieve the opposite of what you want, because the bran will not be fully hydrated, and its sharp edges can tear the gluten to shreds.
Whole grain doughs respond really well to being handled gently through the whole strengthening process. The process of resting, stretching, and folding allows the gluten to develop in a slower, more gentle way, which builds strength in the dough with minimal hands-on time.
Resting the dough
The first step to successfully strengthening your dough is to rest it as soon as it’s mixed. You will also need to rest it in between each round of stretch and folds. Resting allows the gluten to relax, so that the dough can be stretched, and for 100% wholegrain doughs, the first rest also allows the flour to fully absorb the water, and the bran to soften, which stops tiny sharp bits of bran from tearing apart the gluten that you are trying to develop.
Lifting up the centre fold (or coil fold)
This method of stretching and folding is sometimes called a coil fold, because you are lifting up the centre of the dough with both hands, and sometimes allowing the edges of the dough to coil underneath. I use this method of folding for doughs that are more delicate or not very stretchy. Sometimes you might do your first couple of sets of stretch and folds using the turn and fold method which I’ll discuss later, and then the final one or two stretch and folds are done with the coil fold method. Other times because of your timing, you might need to stretch and fold before the dough has fully relaxed, so this method can be used for any (or all) the stretches and folds.
To use this method place your hands underneath the dough, in the centre and pull it up so that both outer sides fall down. Now place the dough on its side so that the place you picked up is now on one side of the dough, and the previous side bits are now together on the other side. Rotate the bowl a quarter turn and then repeat this step, if the dough will allow you to do so without tearing.
Lift it up from the centre, let the sides fall down, then place it so that the old centre is at one side, and the old sides are now the new top and the bottom of the dough.
Turn and fold
For doughs that will easily stretch without breaking, you can stretch and fold by grabbing one half of your dough and stretch it up, then fold it over the other half. If your dough is tearing somewhat, stop doing this now. If you dough is holding together, rotate the bowl a quarter turn, stretch and fold it again, and repeat two more times, so that the dough has been stretched, folded, and rotated four times. For doughs with a high enough hydration, this approach can be done using a strong wooden spoon rather than with hands.
Gently pick up one side of the dough
Lift it up
Fold it over the other half
Squash and fold
This method is used for dough with more than 18% rye, or for other doughs that do not stretch much when lifted. Squash the dough down with your knuckles to form a flat round. Fold one half of the round over the other half. Turn the bowl 90º, then repeat the squashing, folding, and turning until it’s been done four times. As with stretch and fold, the key to doing this successfully is to be observant and stop if your dough is starting to tear.
When you can skip stretching and folding
The first set of stretch and folds are the most crucial ones to remember. Often I do these and no more, and the bread still turns out great.
If you really don’t have any time at all for stretching and folding, choosing to make high hydration pan loaves instead of hearth loaves will mean that the sides of your pan will contain the dough, and the high hydration of the dough will create plenty of bubbles in the bread while it’s rising and baking.
For doughs with large amounts of rye, such as Danish rye bread and 100% rye loaves, the non-stretchy nature of rye means that stretching and folding doesn’t make sense.
This Danish rye with seeds is simply mixed with a spoon, fermented, and then poured into a pan. Absolutely delicious, and minimal hands-on time.
Stretch and fold timing
I never set timers. I read a while ago that every noisy alert from your phone creates a stress response and prevents deep thinking for 20 minutes afterwards. Instead, I am just vaguely aware of the time that I mixed the dough, and in the first hour or two of fermentation, if I’m in the kitchen, I will do some stretches and folds every now and then.
If you leave it at least 20 minutes between each round of stretch and folds, you’ll probably be able to stretch more effectively, but it’s really not the end of the world if you’re in the kitchen and only 10 minutes have passed. Or if you forget about it for a while and don’t get around to stretching and folding until an hour into fermentation.
Observe the dough. If it’s the same size you started with, it’s fine to do stretches and folds. If it’s massively increased in size and looks like it’s nearly ready to proof, you probably don’t want to stretch and fold, because that might deflate some of the bubbles that have formed in your bread.
What to do if your dough is ready to proof but still seems weak?
To keep this email short I’ll save this for another time, when I’ll talk about shaping, pre-shaping, and a trick to get the strength of pre-shaping without needing to bench rest.
Weekly sourdough recipes and tips from an experienced baker and homesteader, with a focus on 100% whole grains. Subscribe today to get a free eBook of sourdough discard recipes.
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