I'm in the process of baking the first of two new loaves right now. The one in the oven is a potato-garlic-peppercorn loaf made with 75% white and 25% (more or less) multi-grain flour.

I took some small left-over baked potatos (that had been baked this past Sunday covered in olive oil and garlic) and pan seared them with a little bit of olive oil to heat them up and soften them up again (they had been in the fridge). I mashed them (skin-on) and mixed them with the dry ingredients, adding a bit of crushed peppercorns and cumin.

The other loaf is 66.6% white and 33.3% multi-grain mixed with one chopped clove of garlic that was first fried up in a skillet with a chopped dried hot chili pepper. Even the dough for this one smells amazing - I can only imagine how it will smell when I put it in the oven in an hour.

I let them rise for about 20 hours - the first one grew quite a bit bigger than the second. After squishing and folding them, dusting and letting them rise again for 3 hours, the first loaf grew more/faster again. I'd say a good 20-30% bigger than the second.

I don't know much about bread chemistry other than what I've casually picked up here and there, so this is mostly just winging it.

Any tips from anyone on how to make the inside a little denser? I'd like to be able to make something with smaller and/or less air pockets.

I'm deliberating experimenting with the times of this first loaf... Maybe going longer than 30 minutes with lid closed. Even if I don't, I'm pretty sure with lid open I still won't be able to go beyond 15 to 20 minutes at 400F.