Sadly, I am writing to try to figure out where I went wrong. I wish your comments had a search function because maybe this issue was already discussed. I made a crusty french bread recipe with 50% whole wheat flour. I prepared the dough in a breadmaker. After a 10 minute rest, I shaped the dough into a round, let it proof for for about 40 minutes (maybe double its size) and baked in a preheated 5 quart dutch oven. I noticed that my dough did spread out more in the proof and my slashes tugged at the dough a lot. My dutch oven is dark bottom so as per advice in one comment I decrease the cooking temperature to 425F for 25 minutes covered, 10 minute uncovered. Internal temperature was >190F after that time. My bread came out more like your picture of the one done on a cookie sheet. It did retain its round shape. It is not crusty. After cooling it seemed a bit deflated. Inside the crumb looks okay but it is chewy. Any advice as to where I went wrong? I suspect maybe I did not get my shape tight enough and maybe I over-proofed? What happened with the crust though?

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