Hello everyone!  
I have used the following recipe a couple times now to try my sourdough starter that's roughly 2 years old now. The starter is rising perfectly well, expanding to about double in size after 2-3 hours at around 77F room temperature.

But whatever I do, however I modify bulk and final ferment, I just cannot get a good crust or nice holes without using a casserole. The dough for the bread in the picture was mixed at 2PM with 3 stretch & fold at around 1-2.5hrs at room temp, then left in the dough bowl for a couple more hours at basement temp until I could get it into the Banneton at around 11:30PM (wasn't able to before due to being away). While bulk fermenting, the dough rose to roughly double the size in around 4 hours, then between that and just before midnight again to roughly double the size.

Due to time constraints and fear of overfermentation I quickly put it into the Banneton to rest for another 20mins as I got the oven to temperature. Whenever I try removing the dough from the bowl (even after lots of stretches), it always sticks to the sides, even with 50-60% hydration. I'm aware that this should not be the case for that low hydration.

As you can see in the picture the rise in the oven was minimal - I guess due to plenty of overfermentation, but I'm never sure. No matter how quick or extended I ferment, the starter always rises perfectly while the rise in the final bread is always crap.

Here's the recipe this is based on, proofing and resting times as mentioned in the text above.

**Ingredients**  
350 g wheat flour  
90 g rye flour  
90 g spelt flour  
100 g sourdough starter  
150 g walnuts or other seeds  
15 g salt  
350 ml water *(experiment with the hydration; more water will create larger holes)*  
**Method**  
**Mix the dough** until all the ingredients are well combined.  
**Let the dough rise for 90 minutes** in a warm place, such as on or near a radiator.  
**Shape the dough** and place it in a proofing basket.  
**Let it proof for another 30 minutes.**  
**15 minutes before the end of the proofing time**, preheat the oven to **220°C (428°F)** with the casserole/Dutch oven inside.  
Place the bread into the hot casserole. **Spray the sides of the casserole with water**, then quickly put the lid on and place it in the oven.  
**Bake covered for 30 minutes.**  
Remove the lid and **bake for another 15 minutes uncovered**, until the bread has browned to your liking.

Any help would be appreciated!

Almost no crumb development and very dense bread despite good bulk ferment