You are bad for my nervous system, Anon.
A couple of Things:
>Use Bread Flour. That means no all purpose / pastry flour
Your bread is dry, because you use cake / pastry / all purpose flour. Pastry flour in particular is very dry and is not suited for bread.
>No Oil, No Butter
They burn at high temperatures and turn bitter. Look at your picture, i can smell the browned butter through the internet.
If you have to use butter, bake at a low temperature and use a form to help the dough rise and to decrease the area that is exposed to the heat of the oven.
I never used butter outside of pastries, it tastes a lot better when you spread fresh butter on your finished bread imho.
>No sugar unless you desperately need a sweet bread
It decreases the baking properties of your bread and limits you to low temperatures and short baking durations (again, it burns)
>Add more water
As a rule of thumb: If you can knead your dough without flour then it is too dry and will dry out even more once you cut it.
Bread has lost up to half of its water once it is cooled down, so if you want a nice, springy bread that retains its texture for a while you need a high hydration
>Increase or add rest periods for your dough
It takes time for the flour to absorb all the water and for the gluten to develop its properties, take your time.
>Use other grains.
Rye, Barley, Einkorn & Spelt are all better than wheat. In germany pure wheat is typically reserved for pastries, cake, cookies or traditional milk breads.
Wheat, especially white flour wheat is boring and bland. If you have to use wheat, use Khorasan wheat (Kamut) or Emmer, it tastes much better.
To me the main purpose of wheat in bread is to provide gluten, to increases the baking properties of the bread.
I generally did not use more than 30% wheat in my bread, it is not as interesting and flavorful as rye
You need to learn how to fold and shape your dough so that it rises outwards and not inwards, which is generally counterproductive. You want a high surface area on the inside (lot's of bubbles, lighter bread) and a lot of surface area on the outside (more area to brown) for that you need a well-folded, well-shaped, well-proofed dough. You should see concentric circles, when you look at a slice of bread.
By the way, what do you need alkaline water for? It is only useful for a few special types of bread. The only time i used alkaline water is when i made pretzels.
>There are only 5 basic ways to increase the flavor of your bread
1. increase the surface area and create a crust
2. increase the salt content
3. Use sourdough and a long fermentation
4. Add spices, nuts & seeds (careful, they tend to burn)
5. Use different flour
>Why to bake sourdough bread:
It lasts longer
It tastes better
It is easier to digest
It is more moist
First of all, it is a myth that sourdough takes over your kitchen. You can keep in your fridge in a closed jar or container.
The only reason not to use sourdough is when you want to bake a quick sweet bread, like raisin bread, but don't be surprised if it tastes boring and dries out within a day. Sourdough ages like wine and adds hundreds of flavors to your bread depending on the temperature and length of the fermentation. You don't have to a San Francisco hippie to recognize its benefits and that it produces a superior bread.
PS:
Take a look at the youtube channel in my other post >>6970
She is one of the few people on yt who is not a recipe slave and knows how to bake bread.
I'd post more links for you, but unfortunately most of them are in german.
If you are fluent in german, then take a look at http://www.der-sauerteig.com/
They have baking down to a science and have more recipes than you can bake in your lifetime.
Lastly: Homemade bread is not the worst thing to eat, but it is certainly not the best; Keep in mind that grain and wheat based products in particular contribute to a number of lifestyle health issues like obesity, heart disease, cancer, skin problems, digestive problems, etc.