my first real sourdough, and it’s delightful

after a bunch of reading, i made a starter a year or so ago, and made 3 or 4 loaves with discard and added yeast. but i was timid about using only my active starter. i put sourdough to the side for a while, freezing my starter.

when i couldn't find my starter, i ordered a starter online. almost lost it to some kind of white mold on top and fruit flies (!) but I'm glad i scraped the untouched dough underneath and tried again.

i used this recipe x .75 because i didn't have enough active starter. starter was fed in AM, recipe started around 3pm, one set of folds and left to rise overnight in the oven. (i read about no knead… so i guess i didn't follow the recipe. r/ididnthaveeggs i guess) placed in greased bowl in the morning and refrigerated from 6am to 3pm. taken out and left in off oven for 1.5 hrs. placed in crock pot insert (no score, too wet) and used recipe's start from cold oven approach. uncovered after 30 minutes, covered ear with aluminum when it was brown. oven reached 475 (supposed to be 450 but i have a temperamental oven) which caused bottom to become tough and crunchy. took out of oven after 55 minutes or so, left on counter to cool an hour. springy, sour, almost perfect to me except for the hard bottom. looking forward to having it with clam chowder. thanks to those who give such helpful advice here.