How Long to wait before cracking the lid?

I have my first batch in the primary right now, it's been in there since Sunday morning. I am tempted more and more each day to crack it open to see what's going on in there.

How long do people normally wait before opening up the bucket to check SG, and just generally to peek? Is there a good method for this to avoid contaminating my beer, or am I just asking for trouble doing it before I rack it to the secondary?

Easy:

Don't look at it until it's stopped bubbling. You don't need to watch it, it's not that exciting. If you want to watch, primary in a carboy. If not, don't risk it. Just let it sit until it feels like it's done.

3 days is most likely not done if there's any activity left. Give it a week, minimum.

Give it a week and/or until the bubbling stops. What it looks like is a filthy brown pile of foam (AKA krausen). Sprinkle some cocoa powder on your next pint & you'll get the idea.

It'll be a week, min. I was the same way a few months ago, during my first brew. Be patient. You'll get there. Welcome to the world of homebrew.

get a glass carboy, then you get to see all the cool stuff going on inside

buy another primary (or two) and get yourself busy on your next batch. Worrying about those will take your mind off this one.

I guess more than anything I just want to make sure all is going well in there. It's an ale, and it was bubbling pretty good for about a day, now it's bubbling just a little. I'd rather not crack it open and ruin a good thing, so I'll wait until secondary day. Thanks all.