Appreciation post: the old baker who told me my crumb was tight because I was scared of the dough
About six years back I was baking sourdough out of my little kitchen in Akron and honestly I was pretty proud of my loaves, nice tall rise, good crust, the works. Then this older guy named Walt who ran a shop down the street took one look at my bread and said "your crumb's tight because you're scared of the dough, you're babying it." I was a little ticked off at first but he was right, I was doing these gentle little folds and never really pushing the bulk ferment. He had me start doing slap and folds right on the counter, no bowl, and let the dough sit out 5 hours instead of my usual 3. First bake after that the holes opened up like nothing I'd ever pulled out of my oven. Walt passed a couple years ago and I still think about that one comment every time I shape. Anybody else get a piece of advice that stung at the time but turned out to be the best thing they ever heard?