My aunt said my bread was too dense, so I changed everything about hydration

So my aunt tried my sourdough last Thanksgiving and just said 'this is a brick, honey.' I was mad for a week honestly. But then I looked at it, she was right. I was only adding like 60% hydration every time. She bakes bread every Sunday for like 30 years. I finally tried her method of 75% and doing a longer autolyse. First loaf was a total glue mess, second one was decent, third one finally had those air holes. Now I'm wondering if I overcorrected because my last loaf was too sticky to even shape. Has anyone else had a relative's blunt comment actually improve their baking, or did you just ignore them and stick to your old way?

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rose_hart15d ago

75% hydration is a big jump if you've been at 60%, but the sticky shaping issue might not be about the water at all. Your flour matters a ton, I used to think all bread flour was the same until I tried a local mill and my dough stopped turning into glue at the same hydration. Also, longer autolyse (like 45 minutes to an hour) helps the gluten develop before you add the starter, so it's not fighting the mixing stage. Try backing down to 70% and keep the autolyse, that sweet spot might fix the stickiness without losing the holes. My own grandma called my first loaves "doorstops," so I get the stubbornness, but she was right about the flour too.