Set the timer to 96 minutes

How to use the online timer

Bread dough that needs an overnight prove often calls for 96 minutes in a cool spot, and a timer takes the guesswork out of when it's ready to shape. Set it once you've covered the bowl, check the dough near the end rather than constantly, and trust the number over how it looks late at night. Good bread rewards the kind of patience a clock keeps better than you do.

Press Start and it gets going immediately, no sign-up screen or settings menu standing in the way. The one thing to remember is that it counts down inside this browser tab, so it needs to stay open rather than closed or replaced by another site if you want an accurate result. A sound plays once the time is up, which is your cue that whatever you were timing is done.

A kitchen timer only works in the kitchen, and a phone timer competes with texts, calls, and every other app fighting for your attention. Keeping the countdown in a browser tab sidesteps both problems: it goes wherever your laptop or phone goes, and it isn't trying to notify you about anything else. Minimise it, work on something else, and it'll be counting when you check back. If you would rather say put a timer on for 96 minutes, that works too — press Start and the page does the rest.