I'm not a baker yet but they prove the dough for a somewhat long time on the great British bake off.

I've got a pretty solid bread game and my main guess is maybe you've just gotta let it sit longer before cooking. The photos look great but I haven't chomped down on it. I can swing this by my chef tomorrow tho, his bread game has placed decently in international competition, just above middle of the pack but in a pretty high level contest. He might be able to give some more advice.

You accidentally made your new hobby into part of your job lol. RIP you

I hear avian flu is popping off, so I expect you'll have a few weeks/months coming up here to perfect your sourdough game.

it's cold and i want to dip bread into soups and stews

that bread looks like it would be amazing for that

i wish i could help, but i am like bullshit dilettante level with bread compared to the pros. yours look fantastic to me, and i would have to retrain my way of thinking to work a combi. i am still putting like pans of water in my shitty conventional.

but, i am highly opinionated about bread, and one of the trends that irritates me is it seems like everybody wants to make the perfect boule to start because it's the boulangerie "peasant loaf". to me, this is like some "I'm Picasso" move of trying to draw the hands of the peasants. peasant foods are simple in design but mastered in process and execution over, usually, multiple lifetimes with parents passing down wisdom to children.

if i was running the restaurant i would shoot for ciabatta. it's smaller, so less waste, especially on the cock ups. it can be sliced for the table or ripped at the table to dip easy, and one can make pimp ass modest sandwiches with it. and it wouldn't be a restaurant, it would be a deli, and so help me god if you 👈 don't have your 🤚order🤏 figured out by time you get to the 🤌front of the line🤘, you're outta👈👆👉 here.

Are you doing the stretch and fold on the whole wad or individual loaves? I would want the latter, just because that's what I know. Otherwise the bread does look fantastic, and your boss should get you an appretinceship at a bakery if it's important to him.

if the flavor and crunchiness of the crust is there, 99% of customers will enjoy it despite the crumb or whatever

(disclaimer: I say this as someone who knows a little about baking bread, but more about eating it)

I think your bread looks nice I have nothing to offer here

Do what you loaf and you'll never work a day in your life

You come in here posting this and asking for advice? how about if instead you tell us how to make bread this nice in a home oven where one doesn't have steam control?

Nice bread for sure comrade, get it

could it be that they're overproofing by a bit? i have very little to suggest as an amateur baker that it seems like you might not have thought of. all of these look better than my best loaves.

Would love to be able to give feedback or advice like you're asking for but all I can give are complements. That bread looks amazing. I would love it with some kind of butter or dip or soup. The crust-to-fluffly-inside ratio looks optimal too, and that's the most important thing for sourdough for me personally.