I've been making for a few years now, the urge ebbs and flows. Right now I've been baking like a madman, forcing my A/C to work overtime, with the goal of reproducing the crumb you see in the loaves they sell at the tartine bakery.

I don't know if it's possible, given that the recipe in their book is probably optimized for a home baker, but I'm giving it a good shot.

Right now I'm in the process of getting my starter as active as humanly possible, I believe that's the major weak point in my process.

You're gonna have some great bread either way!

these look nice and cronchy

One thing that i found helpful was using a steam tray. I block off the oven vent for the first half of the bake. Litre of water, boiled first in a kettle, with a wet cloth, in a pan under the baking steel.

It keeps the top moist during the rise, while also using latent heat of condensation to deposit a lot of heat into the loaf faster.

Although if you're baking in a Dutch oven that accomplishes a similar result.

I use this, it was a Christmas gift and I love it