Mira's bread log. Mostly so I stop making the same mistakes twice.
The kitchen sits around 28°C in August and the dough knows it. Bulk that takes five hours in winter was done in under three. I cut the starter down to 10% and used cold water straight from the fridge. Better, but I still missed the window once and got a flat, sour pancake. Ate it anyway with tomatoes and salt. No regrets.
Third attempt at a mostly-rye loaf. The trick was to stop treating it like wheat dough. No stretching, no shaping to speak of, just a wet paste smoothed into a tin with a wet spatula. Baked low and long, then wrapped in a towel for a full day before cutting. Dense, dark, a little sweet. My neighbour asked for the recipe, which I'm counting as a win.
Left it in the back of the fridge for nearly three weeks with a thick feed on top. Came home to a grey layer of liquid and a smell like nail polish. Poured the liquid off, kept a spoonful from the bottom, and fed it twice a day. By day three it was doubling again. They are tougher than the internet makes them sound.
The dial says 250 but an oven thermometer says it tops out near 225. A heavy lidded pot preheated for 45 minutes makes up most of the difference. Lid on for 20 minutes, off for another 25. The bottom still browns faster than the top, so the pot now sits on a baking sheet on the rack below.
I've baked roughly once a week for two years and kept no notes at all. Every time something worked I couldn't say why. So: one page, short entries, what went right and what didn't. Flour, water, salt, time. Nothing fancy.