Exactly,
To over simplify more water is nearly always better, so long as you can handle it.
The loaf looks lovely, but the texture seems a touch too close. It might be because you added too much salt, which retards or kills yeast growth, or you could have let it have more prove before the bake, or that you could have done a few more envelope folds ... or it is a predominantly wholemeal mix which always has a closer texture ....... or a combination of all.
Excellent loaf though. The judge of how good it is is the taste and you said it was good!
Thanks. Yes, I may have used a touch more salt than I needed...I think it was about 9g. I'll do 6 next time. It does have a very slightly salty taste, so perhaps that's it. You're right that the crumb is just a little too close. It's not gummy - there are some nice holes - but the texture is a bit too much like cake and not enough like bread. I used your standard mix of adding to the poolish 180g white flour and 70g whole wheat (I don't have any rye).
I let it rise twice - both times about 90 mins, until it had more or less doubled in size. Next time I'll let it do the second rise on the peel, I think. Does that work? Let it rise once, then shape it on the peel and let it rise in place again, then slide into the oven? Do you usually do the second rise on the peel or in a bowl (which is what I've been doing)?
Incidentally, I used wheat bran on the bottom to make it slide off the peel. It mostly worked, but the bran singed when it touched the pizza stone...resulting in an acrid smell but a lovely nutty flavor on the bottom crust. I've bought a bag of white cornmeal for future attempts.