Just to say thanks

:) yeah I'll be more than happy to give my input

I'm glad I joined, I need somewhere to vent as my wife's sick of hearing about bread heheh,  happy baking! 

Ok this might look like a lot of text but I think it's not too much work when you come to actually doing it. Anyway couple of things, I live in england so i don't have to battle with high temperatures, my kitchen is almost always between 18-23.C. I always use a retarded final proof as I think that slowing things down gives me a bigger window to catch my loaf at that point between over and under proofed! Also, two hydration levels I really get on with when doing a sourdough, they are 70 and 80%! Nice round numbers, on the one hand 70 gives a more asthetic loaf, holds it's shape, will give that lovely ear and bloom, which i think adds loads of character as you get a nice dark crust then a little charred almost burnt bit, then some nice caramelised crust with every slice :) on the other hand 80 will give me a very rustic looking loaf, with a more open texture, which I just find very satisfying, also I may be wrong but I feel the more open texute allows the nuttiness from the crumb to penetrate right into the loaf. I dont think you can have it both ways though unfortunately, there may be some middle ground though! 

I feed my leaven every day, at either 12 or 24 hour intervals depending on if I'm baking/can be arsed, I take out 250g and either discard or use it to bake, replacing it with 110g water and 140g flour, I always use a very strong flour for example a canadian wheat with 14.8g protein something like that, regardless of what strength flour I'm using for my loaf, just because  the gluten breaks down during fermentation, so more gluten here the better in my opinion. I normally start my loaf when I get in from work, so if I know I'm baking that day I'll take my leaven into work with me and feed it at around 9- 10am much to the amusement of my colleagues. 

an example, exact times and amount of stretch n folds varies depending on how the dough feels

water 305g for 70%,  368g for 80%

flour 405g (between 13 and 14g protein for 70% and 14g + for 80%) 

Spelt 45g

rye 5g

leaven 250g

salt 7g

17.00 hydrolyse - mix all ingredients except salt, don't overwork at this stage

17.25 - Add salt, knead for 5 mins or until I'm satisfied salt is evenly distributed

18.00 - stretch and fold, maybe watch some game of thrones 

18.15 - stretch and fold, not tear and fold harrr

18.30 - stretch and fold

19.00 - stretch and fold

19.25 - preshape

19.45 - final shape, at this point an 80% would go straight into a banneton and retarded, 70% i would leave out to 'skin-over' for about 20-30 mins before retarding, or until the skin feels almost like parchment, this helps with the ear and bloom

06.00 the following morning, turn oven on to 'MAX!' I have a crap oven, turns out max means 220.C when I use an oven thermometer. It takes about an hour for my oven and stone to get hot enough. Also check loaf, if its fully risen great leave it in the fridge, if not bring it out the fridge until it is

06.55 chuck half a mug of boiling water into a tray in the bottom of the oven, quickly shut the door,

06.00 - turn loaf out onto peel, score, then into oven along with a full mug of boiling water

After the loaf has been in for 5 mins i normally top up with half a mug of water, if all this water hasn't evaporated after half an hour I will remove the tray. Normal cooking time around 55 mins, just in time to set off for work.

 Something that really helped me is that every time I make a loaf, and at every stage of the process I take the time to make a real mental note of how the dough looks and feels, i think this helps as there are so many variables with sourdough, unless you're in a very well kitted out bakery perhaps?, learning to go by 'feel' is best! :) anyway hope this helps, if anyone has any pointers or notices any glaring errors then the feedback would be much apreciated!