Thank you all for the help. This sub is awesome.

This sub has been so amazing in refining my sourdough technique. It tasted fine but I was struggling with poor oven spring and shape, too wet, too dark/crusty on the bottom for my kids to eat, etc. My family likes a softer bread with a lighter crust and more closed crumb; learning how to achieve that has been satisfying.

My recipe and process:
325 g water (thanks for helping me drop this and get a better rise and spring!)
150 g active starter (increased thanks to this group – the flavor is better!)
12 g salt
500 g bread flour

Mix very well – I learned here that I wasn’t mixing thoroughly enough and it was making my stretch and folds weird. Rest for 40 minutes and then perform four stretch and folds over the next 2 hours.

Let double in size at room temp. I had been resting it on a part of my counter that was above my dish washer, which meant on days when I was running a load the dough was getting warm! Now I know to watch it and stop the process at the right moment.

Gently shape. I got a bench scraper which absolutely changed things for me. Rest 30 minutes and then shape again before placing it in a banneton. I learned here that even though I might not have the best vessel for this, I could adapt! Using a thicker towel and more rice flour helped my dough a lot.

Fridge for 24-48 hours. I had been baking it after 18 hours and it’s so much better longer.

Score and bake in a preheated Dutch oven 450° for a half hour, then uncover and bake at 400° for 15 minutes. Somewhere here I learned about putting a cookie sheet on the rack under the Dutch oven and I stopped getting super dark/thick bottom crusts!

We still cut it warm which crushes the crumb a little bit, but it’s worth it for that hot bite with butter. 🤤 I got a special bread slicer that makes nice even pieces we can use for sandwiches and toast etc.

Anyway thank you all!