Techniques

The mechanics, explained.

Recipes tell you to stretch and fold, autolyse, pre-shape, score. Very few tell you what any of it is for. These pages do — one technique at a time, with what it does, when it matters, and when you can skip it.

Every recipe on this site links out to these instead of re-explaining the same moves in every post. The advantage of separating them is that you can learn a technique once, properly, in the context of what it's physically doing to the dough — and then recognise it everywhere. The library is complete — nine techniques covering the whole process, from the first rest through the bake. If something has already gone wrong, the Trouble Atlas works backwards from the symptom instead.

Boule and bâtard. Why shaping is tension rather than decoration, how to tell you built enough, and the five mistakes that flatten a loaf.

DifficultyModerate

FixesFlat loaves

Stretch and fold

Building strength without kneading. How many sets, how far apart, and how to tell when the dough has had enough.

The gentler alternative for slack, high-hydration dough that stretch-and-fold would tear.

Flour and water, resting alone. What that hour buys you, and the case for skipping it with whole grain.

Rest30–60 min

GivesExtensibility

OptionalGenuinely

Angle, depth, and why one confident cut beats a decorative pattern. Where the ear actually comes from.

What the fridge does to flavor, structure and your schedule — and how long is too long.

Typical12–16 hr

ImprovesThree things

Steam and the bake

Dutch oven, cloche, tray of water, ice cubes. Which actually work in a home oven and why.

MattersFirst 20 min

Stretching the dough thin across the counter — strength, even distribution, and how to add inclusions without wrecking the crumb.

Best forInclusions

DifficultyModerate

Reading the bulk

The judgement that decides more outcomes than everything else combined. Rise percentage, dome, jiggle, and the aliquot trick.

DecidesEverything

DifficultyThe hard one