How I finally got fresh milled spelt loaves right - a few things that made the difference

I've been doing the same thing with spelt but at a lower percentage, maybe 15 percent, and milled on my Mockmill at a fairly fine setting. My experiance lines up with yours on the bulk ferment being the make-or-break step. I killed a few loaves by pushing the bulk too far and the dough just slumped in the banneton. Now I shape earlier than feels right and trust the fridge.

One thing I landed on differently is hydration. I dropped my water by about 3 percent when I started adding spelt, since the bran seems to drink more as it sits, and the dough went from sloppy to actually manageable during pre-shaping. My white loaves sit around 78 percent and the spelt ones are happy closer to 75.

The tearing during folds happened to me too. What helped was switching from stretch and folds to a single coil fold partway through bulk, done with wet hands and a light touch. Less structure building but way less damage to whatever gluten the spelt is willing to give. Also second the point about watching the crust. I bake in a cast iron combo cooker and the last ten minutes with the lid off is when the color happens, so I park myself in front of the oven and pull it the second it looks right.

I mill spelt too and found that sifting the flour through a medium mesh before mixing takes out a chunk of the bran, which keeps the crumb from going dense without sacrificing that nutty flavor. Sieving is fiddly but I do a big batch every few weeks and keep it airtight. I also stopped chasing exact hydration numbers becasue fresh milled flour seems to drink differently depending on how dry the grain was that day, so I just judge the dough by feel. Do you get much spelt aroma in the finished loaf, or does the sourdough tang cover it up?

Trying to follow along here even though half the words are new to me. The part about stopping the first rise early confused me til I reread it, so the dough keeps growing in the fridge overnight instead of on the counter? I tried a loaf with some whole grain flour from the health food store last month and it came out like a brick, wondering if that was my problem the whole time. Also curious how you know the difference between dough that is just slack and dough that has gone too far. Does it feel loose in a bad way or just softer than white dough normally feels?