What is stretch and fold?

autolyse

A rest after mixing just flour and water, before salt and yeast go in. Usually 20-60 minutes, sometimes longer for whole-grain doughs. During the rest, the flour fully hydrates and enzymes in the flour start breaking down starches and proteins. Gluten begins to form on its own without kneading. The dough comes out smoother, more extensible, and easier to shape than the same dough mixed in one go. The technique was formalized by French baker Raymond Calvel in the 1970s as a response to industrial bread's declining flavor. Often confused with the fermentolyse (everything mixed, then rest), which is a related but distinct technique — the autolyse specifically defers salt and yeast so the dough can hydrate before fermentation starts. For most home recipes either works; the autolyse advantage is most visible in whole-grain or high-hydration doughs.

windowpane test

Pinch off a small piece of dough and stretch it gently between your fingers. If it stretches thin enough to see light through without tearing — a translucent “windowpane” — the gluten is fully developed and the dough is ready to bulk-ferment. The test works because well-developed gluten is elastic enough to stretch into a near-transparent sheet without breaking; under-developed gluten tears immediately. Most common in enriched-bread recipes (brioche, challah, sandwich loaves) where the gluten network has to support a lot of fat and sugar without collapsing. Not applicable to gluten-free doughs — there's no gluten to test — and unnecessary for high-hydration sourdoughs where the dough's slack texture makes the pull-and-stretch test meaningless.

pre-shape

A loose, gentle first shaping done after dividing dough but before the final shape — usually a rough round or loose log. Followed by a 15-30 minute bench rest, then the final shape. The point: build just enough surface tension to give the dough structure and let the gluten relax before the final tighter shape, without overworking it. Skipping the pre-shape (going directly to final shape after dividing) produces flatter loaves with weaker structure because the gluten hasn't had a chance to organize. The bench rest between pre-shape and final shape is sometimes called the bench proof — it's where the dough builds final extensibility for clean shaping.