Need some assistance making Good White bread

The recipe seems to be a little dry.  I prefer about 70% hydration.  The baking time seems a little short; check the interior temperature it should be 195-205°F.  Here is my recipe for three loaves of white bread with commercial yeast.

For the poolish

3 cup (12.8 oz.) King Arthur Bread Flour

1/4 tspn. dry active yeast

3 cup (24.9 oz.) chlorine-free water

 Poolish hydration: 188%.  Note: for half a cup of the bread flour you may substitute half a cup of whole-wheat flour to modify the taste and texture.

 In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in a little of the water, then add the rest of the water and flour and mix enough to wet all of the flour.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let ferment for 8 to 18 hours at room temperature.  If desired, the poolish may be refrigerated after 4 hours of fermentation.

 For the dough

All of the polish

 2 1/8 cup (17.6 oz.) warm scalded milk (or skim)

1 tspn. dry active yeast

10 1/4 cup (43.6 oz.) King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour

1/4 cup (2 oz.) melted butter (or corn oil)

1 1/2 Tbs. (1 oz.) salt

1/4 cup (2 oz.) of melted butter (or corn oil ©) for greasing pans, brushing the dough, and for brushing the baked bread

water in a sprayer

Dough hydration: 69%.

Into the bowl containing the poolish, beat in the milk, the yeast, and about 6 cups of the flour, or as much as can be readily mixed by hand.  Cover and let stand for half an hour or an hour (autolyse).

Mix in the 2 ounces melted butter, the salt, and as much of the rest of the flour as convenient.  Scrape the dough on to a surface dusted with bread flour and thoroughly knead the dough, adding flour from the measured amount as necessary until the dough is smooth.  For a more open structure, minimize the amount of flour.  For a more dense structure, add additional flour.  Allow the dough to rest for about ten minutes and then knead some more.  This dough will be elastic and smooth.  Place the dough into a greased bowl (about a teaspoon of corn oil) and cover to rise to double the volume, about an hour.  Gently degas the dough by folding it on itself.

With melted butter, thoroughly brush three loaf pans (2 qt size, 9 5/8" x 5 1/2" x 2 3/4").  Divide the dough into three equal pieces (about 32 to 34 oz. each).  Shape each piece to fit the bottom of each pan, puncturing the large bubbles.  Place the loaves in the pans, seam side down.  Brush the top of the loaves with melted butter.  Cover the loaves with plastic wrap and let rise until the domes are about 2 inches above the tops of the pans.  Bread benefits from retardation.  (Place in the refrigerator when dough just reaches the top of the pan and remove next day and allow to come to room temperature.)

Preheat oven to 450°F with a pan of boiling water on the bottom shelf, with the middle shelf being reserved for the bread pans.  A large broiler pan works well.  When the dough has risen above the tops of the pans (about an hour), spray them with water, and immediately place them into the oven.  Spray the loaves 2 additional times at 1 minute intervals to permit additional rising.  After 15 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F.  Bake until the interior loaf temperature reaches 195°F, an additional 45 minutes (about one hour total).  The loaves should sound hollow when thumped on the bottom.  Turn out on to a cooling rack, brush with melted butter, and cover with a damp paper towel until cooled.  Bread may then be packaged and frozen.

Enjoy and Happy Baking  

(I have sourdough recipes, also.)

Ford 

I agree with Ford, your dough could probably use a little more water. 

If you're really looking for shreddably fluffy, you need to incorporate intensive kneading, or even a water roux (search these forums for tang zhong technique), this makes shreddably fluffy bread. 

It's hard to tell, it doesn't really look undercooked. Did it taste gummy, or did gummy residue stick to your bread knife when you cut it? If so then it was undercooked. Take internal temp of the finished loaf using an instant read thermometer, I like an internal temp of 200-205F for these kinds of breads, slightly higher than Ford's recommendation. 

The dough could have used a little more water.  Did you put a lot of flour down while you were kneading?  That can throw off your flour:water ratio.  

I wouldn't have changed the amount of yeast you added.  The rising ability of the yeast differs depending on the rising environment. 

As for the oven, I always like to bake my breads in a pretty hot oven, like around 400F or higher.  Many recipes will tell you too bake until it sounds hollow when tapped.  However I have found that tapping the loaf on the top is not really an accurate estimate of how done it is in the middle.  I always like to take the bread out of the loaf pan and tap the bottom.  If the bottom is starting to sound hollow then you know its done.  If it the bottom is very hard and sounds really hollow then it may be overdone!

I prefer using a digital stick thermometer to tell when it's done, at least until you have all the times and procedures down.

 Why are we so driven to tweak something "wonderful" to make it "better"? 

If you want really fluffy soft white bread that holds up to sandwiches, do try the tang zhong roux recipe!  I bake it at the recommended temp for 30 minutes and it is perfect.