Yesterday I produced my best loaf of bread so far in my bread-making adventure. I've only been making bread by hand (as opposed to the breadmaker) for a few months, and I have really learned a lot. Mostly, I have learned that there is no substitute for experience. The best way to make bread is to make bread, and to keep making bread, and take notes, and remember what worked and what didn't, and continually improve your process and your observations.
Boring, but true.
For this most recent loaf, I used the Extra-Tangy Sourdough Bread recipe from King Arthur flour. (I left out the citric acid. I like my bread sour, but not THAT sour.) I have found that most bread recipes actually leave out about half of the steps, perhaps assuming that you have enough experience to know what to do.
In other words, part of the process of getting better at making bread is developing a mental ur-recipe. A template for the making of bread, which you can overlay atop any given recipe.
For example, whenever there is a final rise, I am careful to make sure the outer surface of the dough is oiled. The easiest way to do this is to pour a tiny bit of oil (a teaspoon or so) into the bottom of the bowl. Then just roll the dough around in the puddle until it's evenly coated.
The oil does two things. First, it keeps the dough's skin moist. This is important because if the outside of the dough dries, it becomes hard and inflexible. This acts like a girdle, and restricts the dough as it rises. You don't want that!
The second thing it does is help make the crust a lovely golden color. This is particularly an issue with sourdough breads, because their chemistry acts against the formation of a dark, crispy crust.
I always baste the dough with water before baking, for the same crusty reason.
Another thing I have learned is that patience is the biggest ingredient. My dough always takes way longer to rise than a recipe states. Whether this is because my starter is young (only about four months old), or because I'm not timing the starter's initial feeding right, or because of some other occult reason, I cannot say.
The "poke test" is very useful here, for the final rise. When you poke your dough with a fingertip, if it springs back to fill in the dent, then it's not ready to be baked. That springiness is the work of gluten, although I will confess I'm vague on the chemistry of what's happening. At any rate, when the springiness is all gone, and the dent doesn't fill in when you poke it, your bread is finished rising and ready to bake.
Similarly, I have learned to spot the "ready to rise" look on a loaf of bread. It will magically take on an appearance that I have heard variously described as "cellulite" or "a baby's bottom." The dough takes on an almost powdery appearance, and has a cloudy, lumpy sort of look.
And finally, whenever it says to knead the dough, I always use the Sourdough Home Stretch and Fold technique! Seriously, it's magic.