crust softens during cooling
Hey guys. I've made the rustic bread 3 times now, and I'm having a problem with the crust softing a lot during cooling. I like a crispy crust. Is this recipe supposed to have a soft crust? I do all the things you should for good crust: preheat oven with steam pan, using tiles as baking stone. Is it possible I'm not baking it for long enough? The whole thing gets very dark brown after the recommended baking time. In fact the first time I made this recipe, I burned it and it had a very crispy crust. Still tasted good after hacking off the black parts. I'm shaping my loaves as batards BTW. I don't have this problem when I bake baguettes (different recipe, however).
The crumb is very moist and slightly dense. Is it supposed to be like that?