Overnight White Bread (Forkish Method)

Ken Forkish’s Overnight White Bread makes an overnight schedule possible with four ingredients and a small dose of commercial yeast. There is no starter or pre-ferment to prepare. The long rise offers a different flavor and workflow from a same-day loaf, without promising that everyone will prefer it to sourdough or faster bread.

This guide adapts the formula from Flour Water Salt Yeast. A permission-reprinted version of Forkish’s recipe provides the source for its proportions and sequence. His book adds photographs and detailed handling instructions; see our bread book guide.

The Formula

Yield: Two dough pieces of approximately 901 g each before handling losses. Finished loaves weigh less because baking removes moisture.

Flour choice: White all-purpose flour is the baseline here. Bread flour can work, but a change in flour changes the feel of a dough at the same hydration. Do not assume that stronger flour is required simply because this is bread.

Water temperature: The published method starts with 90–95°F (32–35°C) water and aims for a final dough temperature of 77–78°F (25–26°C). Starting water temperature is a means of reaching that dough temperature, not a fixed instruction regardless of how warm the flour and room are. Measure the finished dough and adjust subsequent batches accordingly.

**Salt:**22 g is 2.2% of the flour weight. Keep it in proportion when scaling; this is the recipe’s amount, not proof that all bread must use either 2% or 2.2% salt.

**Measuring the yeast:**0.8 g is below what many whole-gram kitchen scales can measure reliably. Use a scale suited to small quantities. A little extra yeast is a large proportional change at this dose. If changing yeast type, follow the specific product directions, such as Red Star’s active-dry guidance. For half a batch, the amounts are 500 g flour,390 g water,11 g salt, and 0.4 g instant yeast.

Why a Small Yeast Dose Suits an Overnight Rise

Yeast quantity and fermentation time interact with temperature, flour, salt, and dough conditions. Reducing yeast can extend the rise, but the relationship is not a universal inverse equation. You cannot calculate every bread’s timing by dividing a standard yeast percentage by 0.08%.

Fermentation generates gas and changes the dough’s flavor chemistry. Flour enzymes also affect available sugars and gluten behavior. Longer fermentation does not mean every flavor compound or browning precursor keeps increasing indefinitely: an experimental metabolite study found that different metabolites changed in different directions. Balance the schedule with the dough’s ability to retain gas.

An Example Schedule

This example allows an approximately 13-hour overnight rise. It is a planning aid, not a guarantee that the dough will be ready at the listed minute.

Allow roughly 20–30 minutes of active handling, plus the waiting periods. One Dutch oven requires a second baking cycle. Cooling is additional; plan to slice when the loaf has cooled through rather than promising bread ready to slice at a particular morning time.

Step 1: Rest the Flour and Water, Then Mix

Combine all 1,000 g flour with the measured 780 g water in a large covered mixing container, such as the 12-quart tub used in Forkish’s method. Mix until no dry pockets remain. Leave enough room for the dough to expand substantially overnight.

Cover and rest 20–30 minutes. This flour-and-water rest is an autolyse: the yeast and salt have not yet been added.

Distribute the 22 g salt and 0.8 g instant yeast over the rested dough. With a damp hand, fold the dough over them, then alternate pinching through the dough and folding until both are evenly incorporated. Do not leave dry yeast or salt trapped in a seam. Rewet your hand as needed to reduce sticking; avoid adding an unmeasured splash to the formula.

Check the dough temperature after mixing. The recipe’s target is 77–78°F. Cover the container and mark its starting level so you can judge the overnight rise.

Step 2: Fold During the Early Part of Bulk Fermentation

Give the dough 2–3 sets of stretch-and-folds over roughly the first 90 minutes after mixing. About 30 minutes between sets is a useful starting rhythm, but allow the dough to relax rather than forcing a tight dough to stretch.

For each set, dampen a hand, lift and fold one section over the dough, then rotate the container and repeat around it. Stop when the dough has tightened; do not pull until it tears.

These folds help build structure in a dough that receives relatively little initial mixing. Once the early folds are complete, cover it and let the overnight rise continue. Folds belong within bulk fermentation: the 12–14-hour guide is measured from the final mix, not from the last fold.

Step 3: Let the Dough Rise Overnight

The target for this particular formula is approximately 2.5–3 times the starting volume, usually described as 12–14 hours after mixing. Those numbers belong to this method; they are not universal endpoints for other breads.

Dough temperature changes during the night as it exchanges heat with the room. A colder kitchen may need more time; a warmer one may finish earlier. Do not assume an exact 16-hour rule for 65°F or an exact 10-hour rule for 78°F. On the first attempt in a new environment, arrange to check before the expected endpoint, especially in a warm kitchen.

For future batches, adjust one variable at a time—mixing time, dough temperature, the rising location, or the small yeast dose—and record what happens. Automatically reducing to 0.6 g is not a calibrated solution for every warm room.

Step 4: Check Before Dividing

Look for the substantial volume increase, visible bubbles, and an aerated dough that still has enough structure to handle. The marked container helps distinguish actual growth from an uncertain visual impression.

If it has barely risen: Check the measured temperature, whether the yeast was added and accurately weighed, and its condition. Give a cool, active dough more time. Eighteen hours is not a universal point at which yeast becomes dead or the dough becomes unusable. If you suspect old yeast, test a separate sample using a manufacturer’s specified activity test, not arbitrary pinches of water, sugar, and yeast.

If it has risen and begun to fall: It may have fermented further than intended. Handle it gently and reassess its remaining strength. Shorten subsequent waiting if needed, but do not put an unshaped mass straight into a hot pot just because a timer or a concave surface says “bake now.” Expect the result to differ from a dough shaped at the intended stage. Appearance alone does not guarantee flavor or suitability to eat.

Step 5: Divide and Shape with the Right Seam Orientation

Ease the dough onto a lightly floured work surface without tearing it. Divide it into two equal pieces. Form each into a round with a smooth, supported surface, using enough flour to release the dough without folding thick layers of flour into it. If it resists shaping, give it a brief covered rest before continuing; a separate 15-minute preshape rest is not mandatory in the source method.

Choose the finish now:

Use adequately floured baskets or cloth-lined bowls. The turn out reverses which side faces upward. There is no need to flip a fragile proofed loaf repeatedly if you choose the basket orientation in advance.

Step 6: Proof and Prepare the Oven

The source method allows roughly 60–75 minutes of final proof around 70°F (21°C), with a shorter interval possible in a warmer room. Start checking before the expected finish. A tiny starting yeast dose does not guarantee a broad proofing window after an overnight fermentation.

Use expansion, aeration, and the poke test together. A gentle dent that returns slowly can support readiness, but no response pattern gives an automatic diagnosis for every dough. Do not add a fixed 15 minutes solely because of one poke.

Preheat the oven to 475°F (about 245°C). Forkish’s method uses a covered baker preheated for at least 45 minutes, but only use that procedure with cookware whose manufacturer permits empty preheating at this temperature, including the lid and knob. Le Creuset’s own bread guidance recommends a different approach for its enameled Dutch ovens. If your pot requires a cold start, use its compatible recipe and timing rather than assuming an unchanged preheated-pot schedule.

With one pot, the source method refrigerates the second covered loaf about 20 minutes before baking the first. This slows its proof while it waits; it does not freeze its development. Keep an eye on its condition.

Step 7: Bake and Cool

Use dry, heat-resistant oven mitts and a clear, stable landing area for the hot pot and lid. Transfer the loaf without reaching against the hot sides. If using parchment or a sling, check its temperature rating and keep it away from heating elements.

For the natural finish, load seam-side up. For a scored loaf, turn out smooth-side up and cut with a proper lame or suitable sharp kitchen knife before loading.

Bake at 475°F:

• **Covered:**30 minutes.
• Uncovered: About 20–30 minutes more, checking from 15 minutes uncovered because ovens vary. Look for a well-baked, medium-dark crust without deliberately burning it.

The covered phase traps moisture from the dough; the uncovered phase allows the crust to develop. This is the Dutch oven method, with timings specific to this recipe and setup.

Remove the loaf from the pot and cool on a rack before slicing. Forkish’s published minimum rest is short, but it does not establish that every loaf has cooled through in 20 minutes—or even one hour. For evaluating the crumb, let it cool through. King Arthur’s doneness guidance explains why the full bake and cooling both matter.

For a second loaf, reheat the pot as its manufacturer permits; the source method uses about 5 minutes before the next load. Bake according to that loaf’s condition. Baking two loaves sequentially takes longer than the per-batch 50–60-minute cooking estimate.

Lodge 5-Quart Dutch Oven — check the specific model’s instructions and dimensions for your loaf. A seasoned cast-iron pot can suit this method when its manufacturer permits the preheat; check the lid, handles, temperature limits, and size.

What to Expect—and What Can Change

At 78% hydration, this dough can produce an open, irregular crumb, but the number alone does not guarantee large holes. Flour, fermentation, strength, shaping, and baking affect the result.

The overnight schedule is its practical attraction. It does not make a short-fermented loaf inherently inferior, and dark crust is a preference rather than an instruction to approach burning.

Whole wheat: Replacing part of the white flour with whole wheat changes water demand and handling. Make modest adjustments based on a known formula or a controlled trial, not a guaranteed extra 15–25 g rule. Use a dedicated whole-wheat formula if making a large substitution.

No-knead terminology: This is a low-handling bread with early folds. It shares ideas with no-knead bread, but that label covers many formulas. It does not establish a universal Lahey yeast percentage, hydration, or flavor comparison.

Poolish: A poolish changes flour, water, yeast allocation, and timing. Use a complete preferment formula rather than adding one to this dough without recalculating the ingredients.

Troubleshooting the Next Batch

The dough progressed too far overnight. Compare temperature, yeast weight, and elapsed time with the intended method. Adjust one of these for the next bake. A universal lower yeast dose or water temperature cannot fit every room.

The dough barely rose. Check leavener, weighing, and temperature before assuming it is dead. If choosing a warmer spot, measure it; an oven light does not produce the same temperature in every oven. Prevent anyone from turning the oven on with dough inside.

The loaf spread or lacked oven spring. Check development, proof, shaping, and transfer as well as oven preparation. It is not automatically overproofed, and more preheating will not repair weak or over-fermented dough.

The bottom burned. Review rack position and heat from below. Lodge’s bread-baking advice describes a sheet pan on a lower rack as a heat shield. A baking stone or steel directly under the pot is not automatically a remedy; it can change heat delivery in a different way.

The crumb is gummy. Let the loaf cool before judging it, then assess the bake and fermentation. Exactly five extra baking minutes or one hour of cooling is not a universal fix.

For a broader diagnosis, see Why Is My Bread Dense?.