Technique · No. 03

Coil folds.

The same job as a stretch and fold, done by lifting instead of pulling. For dough slack enough that pulling would tear it — which above about 80% hydration is most dough.

home/ techniques/ coil folds
Per set~20 sec
Sets3–4
Spacing30–45 min
Best above78% hyd.
DifficultyEasy
KeepsMore gas
§ 01 — why lift instead of pull Gravity does the stretching.

A stretch and fold works by you pulling one edge of the dough away from the rest. That needs a dough with enough structure to take the pull. Slack, wet dough doesn't have it — you reach under, lift, and the sheet tears rather than stretching.

A coil fold reverses the direction of force. You lift the dough from the middle and let the weight of the two hanging ends stretch it for you. Gravity applies the tension, evenly, at exactly the rate the dough can absorb. It cannot really over-stretch, because the dough only pulls as hard as it weighs.

The other advantage is gas. Pulling and folding presses out more of the structure you've built; lifting and tucking preserves most of it. On a delicate high-hydration dough where the open crumb is the whole point, that difference is visible in the slice.

§ 02 — the movement Lift, let it tuck itself.

Wet both hands. Slide them under the middle of the dough, palms up, fingers spread. Lift straight up, just high enough that the two ends release from the container — usually only a few inches.

The ends hang, stretch under their own weight, and as you lower the dough back down the far end tucks underneath. Set it down. Rotate the container 90°, and do it again. Two lifts is usually enough for one set; four if the dough is very slack.

Then cover it and leave it. Same rhythm as stretch and folds: three or four sets, spaced 30–45 minutes, all inside the first couple of hours of bulk.

wet hands, under the middle
1 Under the centre, not the edge.
the ends stretch themselves
2 Lift. Weight does the work.
set down · rotate 90° · repeat
3 It tucks itself. Turn and repeat.
§ 03 — which to use A rough threshold.
HydrationUseWhy
Below 72%Stretch and foldEnough structure to take a pull; coils barely move it
72–78%EitherBoth work. Use whichever you prefer
Above 78%Coil foldsPulling starts tearing rather than stretching
Above 85%Coil folds, gentlyFewer lifts, longer gaps. Very little handling
Enriched or stiff doughStretch and foldToo heavy to hang and stretch usefully
The Calibration Loaf is 70% Which is why it uses stretch and folds. If you take that same formula up to 80% — a reasonable next experiment — switch to coils.

Notes from the counter

Coil folds arrived in home baking alongside the very-open-crumb era and picked up some of that aesthetic baggage — they can read as the "advanced" fold, the one serious bakers use.

They're not better. They're for wetter dough. Using coils on a 68% dough is like using a feather duster on a driveway: nothing bad happens, nothing much happens either.

Pick by hydration, not by ambition.

§ 04 — where next Around this step.
The other one Stretch and fold For dough with enough structure to take a pull. Below about 78%. Work it out Hydration calculator Your true hydration, once the starter's flour and water are counted. Matters more Reading the bulk No fold rescues a mis-read fermentation. All of it Techniques The rest of the mechanics.