First Attempt at Sourdough—Is the First One Free?

This was my first time baking sourdough, and honestly, I made an absolute mess of the process—but somehow, I still ended up with delicious bread.

Recipe:
• 100g 100% hydration starter (started on Jan 24, fed ~every 12 hours, passed the float test!)
• 300g tepid water
• 400g flour
• 9g salt

Process:
1. Mixed the starter and water, then added flour. Autolysed for 45 minutes.
2. Kneaded in salt, rested 20 minutes, then did a stretch and fold.
3. Three coil folds, 30 minutes apart—except I had to step out before the third, so the dough chilled for ~1.5 hours instead.
4. Rested an hour after the last fold, then onto preshaping and shaping… which turned into a tacky, tight-fisted disaster.
5. Plopped it into a generously floured, cloth-lined mixing bowl—flour did absolutely nothing to stop it from sticking.
6. Preheated a small (20cm) Dutch oven to 250°C. Attempted to score, but even my sharpest knife mostly just dragged the dough along for the ride.
7. Dropped the dough unevenly into the Dutch oven, had to shimmy it into place by shaking the pot.
8. Baked covered for 20 minutes, then uncovered for 20 minutes.

Despite all of this, the bread actually tastes great. Is this beginner’s luck, or does everyone get a freebie on their first try?

Major respect to all of you who do this regularly—you must have nerves like test pilots!