Crust too hard, inside too soft
I attempted two kinds of sourdough bread, one mostly rye with a small amount of wholewheat and the other mostly wholewheat with some rye.
The starter was very successful, made out of rye flour and the dough rose beautifully.
Both breads are based on Russian recipes, the first one called Borodinsky. My problem is that both had extremely hard crusts almost burned from all sides, but pretty moist on the inside. Now they are supposed to be denser than regular bread, but I wasn't expecting it to be this moist. When you press it between your fingers it leaves a doughy dent and has a slightly chewy texture when eaten. The flavor is superb though.
In both occasions I let it rise in the oven with temp set to 90 F because it's been a bit colder lately. Could that be the reason? Should I just let it sit with the light on and no heating?
What do I do to make the crust much softer and the insider just slightly drier?