After struggling for a few years, good results sometimes, mediocre at others I've found a formula that works for me. I'm at 7,000 ft so that may be the secret of my success or not.
I realized I was overkneading and over fermenting. I cut my kneading back to 3 minutes in the KitchenAide so the dough is no where near smooth when I stop. A few stretch and folds while fermenting. I allow it to ferment to only 50% increase. Overnight in the fridge and bake first thing in the morning in combo pots.
My recipe is 70% hydration with 200gm of 1:1 starter.
I'm also using Bob's Artisan bread flour that has 5gm of protein per serving vs King Arthur that has only 4. High protein flour is supposed to really make a difference in high altitude cooking.
Always nice to see when people figure it out. Is the kneading even necessary? Can it potentially be negative?
But since I spent $500 on a 7qt KitchenAide just for bread making I'm not willing to try it the other way :)
Congratulations! Hope you enjoy it.
Coincidentally, Trevor J Wilson just posted on Instagram today about gluten development and at the end mentioned he preferred developing during mix. Didn't elaborate on the method, but maybe more development during the mixing stage is something I'll look into.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bt8hmuwn0HC/