The Next Rye Boule

I made a new rye boule today without making any serious mistakes. For once, I used someone else's recipe. The bread was good--but it wasn't good enough. This is the flip side of my belief that almost all handmade bread is good. I also want to keep trying recipes, or keep working on my own, until I have something I'm going to be permanently satisfied with.

This wasn't it. It wasn't sour enough. Texture and taste were good, but the crust was too soft, even though it was baked in an earthenware cloche. And it just wasn't tasty enough.

So, to analyze what I'll change for the next boule:

1. Not sour enough--use another sourdough starter
2. Crust is too soft--maybe try a water spray after I remove the cloche top
3. Not tasty enough--The recipe I used called for rye flour and unbleached white bread flour. I'll try substituting whole wheat flour plus a little gluten flour for some of the white.

We'll see.

Later note:

The friend who received this loaf of bread loved it. I guess it was OK.