Thanks. It’s never been a 3 hr final rise. Typically it is a 6 hr rise after mixing/kneading, then shaping (which maybe I am not doing well enough to get a tight outside), then a 75 min final rise before baking.
I haven’t bought a mold yet (nor a scale). Still using whatever I have in the kitchen before investing in new equipment. I did the final rise of my first loaf in a clean plastic bowl with a floured towel on top. Unfortunately, it was waffle knit, and the dough got all caught up in it and tore quite a lot when I was taking it out to bake. Since then, I’ve used bowls sprayed with pam and covered with more pam’d saran wrap on top for the final rise.
I will look into some videos for shaping. I think that’s where I could improve.
