u/dog-vevo

I’m gonna do my best on the recipe because unfortunately all I have are hand scribbled notes from watching my mom do this. I just made my own (she gave me some of her starter — she said it was “fed” which sounded important) for the very first time yesterday/today, I am so thrilled with the result!!

Recipe:
400g bread flour
100g whole wheat flour
100g starter
350g water
10g salt
10g malt

Yesterday I combined these with a whisk then let it sit in the bowl for half an hour. I did four rounds of stretch and folds at 30 minute intervals, then I moved it to a clear container with a rubber band marking its level.
I know you’re not “supposed” to let it double in size while proofing, especially considering it was hot today (75 F in my kitchen), but my mom INSISTED I needed to let it double in size. Well then I wandered away a little too long and after four hours it was at like 110% volume, oops!! I was sure it would be overproofed but idk I just went with it and I think it was okay.
At that point I transferred it to the counter and let it sit another 15 minutes before preshaping. I let it sit another 15 or so minutes before putting it into its little nest (my mom got me some of those batard basket things for my birthday so I used that). After like five more minutes I put it in the fridge with a little towel over it before bed, I guess around 8:30-8:45 PM
Today around 3:30 PM I started preheating the oven with a cast iron pot and lid inside at 500F. Even after coming to temp I left it for 30 minutes (well more like 45 minutes because I was cooking & eating other food at the time lol) to keep the cast iron heating up. I scored my loaf but as you can see from my photos, I don’t think I went deep enough on the decorative scoring.
Then I popped my loaf into the super hot cast iron and baked it with the lid on for 8 minutes, and when I took the lid off I did another little score with a scalpel to ensure a good ear (sorry if that’s cheating I don’t know anything other than what my mom taught me lol). Put it back in to bake uncovered for 15 minutes, checked the temp with a thermometer, and pulled it out and let it cool on a wire rack for a few hours.
I think that’s everything!!! My mom said her first several loaves were disasters compared to this, and I’ll admit it’s probably a combination of beginner’s luck and also just having been taught recently enough by my mom to just sorta steal her info, LOL. Just curious what you guys think of this, what I did right vs wrong, and maybe if I might have picked up any bad habits from my mom 😆
(Final note, I like how when I cut it it looks like a bunny!!! 🐰)
ETA: Corrected the recipe somewhat, also when I let it proof for four hours I realized I actually put it in the oven (off) with the light on (maybe 85F in there), I think that’s how I got to 110% after only four hours.

Providing a lot of info because I’m hoping for some advice. We’ve had had a family living on our porch before that had several successful broods, but then they and the next family that moved in both suffered disaster… (Essentially I think a raccoon managed to find the first nest, and another time from the amount of feathers I found in the yard I’d say either a hawk or a neighborhood cat had a successful hunt, but my yard is fenced in and usually quiet.) After all that though, we had a new dove move in, fall in love, and have babies!! (We’ve got two bebbies in there but I can’t get close enough to photograph the other.)
My question is, how can I help them out, safely? I considered scattering some seed on our porch, but I didn’t want to attract raccoons near where they’re nesting. We have feeders (including a flat feeder I’ve seen doves use) but we had taken them down due to avian illness concerns. I’m just wanting to do best by these adorable new tenants, what advice would you guys give to newbies?