So I made bread again. Followed this recipe: https://feastandfarm.com/easy-yeast-rolls/. Obviously I shaped the dough into bread not rolls. Used that recipe because it was one of the top results on Youtube for "how to make bread."
Bread turned out perfectly edible, but I believe I made the following errors. First, my house is way too cold. I haven't got a thermometer in the house but it wouldn't surprise me if the kitchen is 63°F. I saw a tip somewhere that said if you let your oven preheat to 350 for two minutes, then shut it off and put the dough in there it'll rise. This worked, took about two hours for it to not-quite double. I kneaded it, but I don't think I kneaded for long enough, never got to the window pane light dealy. Also kneaded on a floured surface, and might've added a little too much flour in the process. I see King Arthur recommends an oiled surface, I'll try that next time. Shaped it, put it in a 9x5 loaf pan. It never rose over the top of the pan. After an hour (rising in the oven like before) the crown had just reached the lip of the pan. I left it for another hour, and it had collapsed on itself. Maybe I disturbed it too much when I took it out of the oven the first time. Anyway, google has taught me that bread pans ought to be 8.5x4.5 (for the amount of flour I was using) so I am going to buy one of those in the near future.
Regardless it tastes great with a little butter or honey.
The less flour you have in the dough the easier and faster it rises, I usually add until it stops sticking to the bowl, but you can also achieve this with some tactical oil use. In bakeries the bread is put into a sauna-like environment for hour or two depending on how heavy it is, so leaving it to rise for 2-3 hours in a warm place isnt going to harm it. I've seen left-over dough rise in 8c (46,4f) temperatures while laying on a cold stone floor, it just takes time.
Anyway, lookin' real good :meow-melt: