Ear ye! ear ye

This is my first post and my third ever batard! Thanks for all the inspiration guys!

Recipe is 80% hydration and based off the classic open crumb recipe of @fullproofbaking
– https://youtu.be/HlJEjW-QSnQ?si=M3Z0e2PYVB9OdtHZ
– 287g KA bread flour
– 70g Bobs Red Mill whole wheat flour
– 280g water
– 72g levain (90% hydration fed with 90% KA bread flour and 10% BRM Rye).

One of my first batards! On the crust, the ear and blisters look great 🤩. Blistering specifically improved after decreasing flour during my shaping, following advice from @jimchall. I thoroughly spritz the dough surface before baking

Inside the crumb, nice to see organized and open alveoli but I know we can do even better!

On the sticky note I include my full recipe (287g KA bread flour, 70g Bobs Red Mill Whole, 280g water, 72g levain) with the baking schedule, which has the time, volume rise, temperature, and pH of the entire process. I came across the idea of using pH from @the_bread_code and it’s really helped me understand fermentation beyond just looking at the usual volume, smell, and texture indicators

I made two doughs A and B, which were mixed/bulked/proofed separately, the only difference is one was shaped into a batard and the other a boule. By comparing measurements from two “identical” mixes, I can estimate the error of each kind of measurement. As expected, the temperature is nearly the same between the two doughs, with little variance between the two doughs. The aliquot jar volume measurement is quite noisy (putting into fridge at 240% rise in A, 200% rise in B) but the pH seems to be a more consistent measurement (4.35 vs 4.40 pH). But maybe this is more a statement of my bad hand mixing 😆

Separate but really cool that I also get 4.4pH at end of bulk at around 100% rise as @fullproofbaking also sees (aliquot sample extracted before any folding).

Honestly the open crumb is all that matters to me. I am happy with this I would rate 8/10 but still would like to achieve truly open crumb on a godly level as demonstrated by Kristen @fullproofbaking and replicated by some of her best disciples like Bread by Joy Ride Coffee (see YouTube).

Any tips for open crumb? Generally agree with Trevor Wilson that dough handling is key, and obviously fermentation, so looking for detailed advice. Please share your crumb pics!