Yeast, Bacteria, Flour, Water and Technique

I've been watching a lot of bread-baking videos on YouTube and I have taken some key insights to improve my bread game:

1. Autolyse - Mix the dough without the leaven and let it sit for an hour or so. This develops the gluten somewhat without doing anything.

2. Hydration - Bread with hydration levels of 65 or 70 to 100 (i.e. 650g water to 1000g flour) are sticky and hard to handle but they produce a loaf that lasts longer and has a moist, chewy crumb.

3. Fold - Folding the dough during fermentation develops gluten networks and results in a more open crumb and chewy bread.

4. Fermentation time - I use the sourdough starter to produce a well-flavoured bread and I add yeast so that I get a result in a short time. Without the sourdough starter, using a long fermentation time should give a reasonable result. You can do this by starting with less yeast or fermenting at a low temperature.

My top recommendation for YouTube videos is the Chain Baker.