Back to basics. 100% bread flour, 30% starter (100% hydration), 70% hydration and a little salt.

First things first, fermentation. I had been fermenting for 4 hours. Lately this conventional wisdom is being called into question.

In addition to the shortened fermentation, I've added folding to the process. Folding helps develop gluten during fermentation.

...fold it. It then goes back in the bowl to finish fermenting.

Shaped and ready to proof. I've shortened the proof to about 2 - 2 1/2 hours, down form 4.

The finished product has much better oven spring than I have been getting.

The crumb opens nicely, but still needs work. These loaves were enormous, 3+ punds each.

The big difference is the flavor. With shortened ferentation and proof times, there is a noticible drop off.

The Dwinkster, she being my personal microbiologist, pointed out that the acids produced can weaken gluten. The longer fermentation goes on, the more acid produced. So now fermentation is limited to 2 hours.

At 30 and 60 minutes, I dump the dough onto the board, gently flatten it out and...

The dough doesn't double, but it grows signifigantly and has lots of life in it.

I think their size prevented really good heat from getting all the way to the middle. Next time, not so big.

So the challenge is to keep working on the structure and add flavor back in. The adventure continues...