SourTube: Coil Folds vs Stretch and Folds, Explained (feat. Sourdough Fever)

📺 SourTube pick: This is a curated video — we didn't make it, we just love it and think you will too. All credit belongs to the creator below. Watch it, learn from it, then go show them some love.

Today's pick: 1x Stretch & Fold and 4x Coil Folds

Creator: Sourdough Fever of sourdoughfever.com
Watch on YouTube: 1x Stretch & Fold and 4x Coil Folds
More from Sourdough Fever: sourdoughfever.com — technique guides, recipes, and baking calculators

If the embed doesn't load, watch it directly on YouTube here.

Why we picked this one

Here's a confession: when we first started baking sourdough, we treated every set of folds like an arm workout. Yank the dough up, fold it over, repeat four times, feel very productive. Then our loaves came out dense and stubborn, and we blamed literally everything except the fact that we were manhandling our poor dough.

That's why this video from Sourdough Fever is such a gem. Instead of dumping 47 opinions on you, they do something refreshingly practical: ONE set of stretch and folds followed by FOUR sets of coil folds, all in the same video, so you can watch the dough's personality change in real time. You literally see it go from shaggy and loose to smooth, strong, and self-supporting. It's the clearest side-by-side demonstration of the two techniques we've come across.

The detail that stuck with us: stretch and folds early, when the dough is slack and extendable; coil folds later, when it needs gentleness. Coil folds use gravity and surface tension instead of your grip, which is perfect for high-hydration doughs that would tear if you grabbed them. If your bulk fermentation game has been a guessing game, this video quietly answers it: start bold, finish gentle, and let the dough tell you when it's ready.

What you'll learn

• Both techniques, demonstrated on the same dough: one set of stretch and folds (four stretches around the dough) followed by four sets of coil folds, so you can see exactly how each one transforms the dough's strength.
• The sequencing logic: why stretch and folds come first when the dough is at its most extendable, and why coil folds take over later for a gentler, tension-building finish.
• How to read the dough: what the dough feels and looks like after each set — from slack to firm and self-supporting — so you know you're on track without a timer telling you so.

Our two cents to go with it

Two beginner things worth knowing before you hit play:

1. Wet your hands, not the counter. Damp hands are the difference between smooth coil folds and a sticky wrestling match. A quick rinse before each set keeps the dough sliding off your hands instead of clinging to them — and it means you won't be tempted to add extra flour, which would throw off your hydration.

2. Late folds should barely feel like work. If your final coil folds are still a big stretch, the dough is telling you something: it's still very extensible and may want more time or more sets. The last folds should be short and gentle, with the dough holding its shape afterward. Learning that "done" feeling is one of the biggest leaps a beginner baker can make.

If watching this gets you itching to bake but your starter is still sluggish and sad and making everything harder than it needs to be — that's literally why we dehydrate ours and ship it ready to wake up in a few days. No drama, just dough. Squirrelly Girl Starter is here when you need it. 🐿️

Loved this video? Go tell Sourdough Fever — like and subscribe on YouTube so they keep making them.

#sourtube #coilfolds #stretchandfold #sourdoughtechniques #sourdoughbeginner #bulkfermentation