Knowing When the Bread Is Ready to Bake

Thirty minutes prior to the prescribed final proofing time, check on your loaves. Delicately uncover them. First use your eyes—are your loaves larger? Then gently touch your loaf with a fingertip. If you press your finger gently into your loaf and then lift it off, and the indentation immediately pushes back out, the loaf requires more time before it’s ready to be baked. Give it another 15 minutes and check again. The loaf is ready when the indentation made by your finger pushes back very slowly and doesn’t completely fill back in. If you wait too long, your finger will leave an indentation that will just remain an indentation. There’s nothing you can do at this point other than bake it right away: it’s overproofed. If the recipe calls for the loaf to be scored prior to baking, score it very lightly if it is overproofed.