stark wrote:

My third loaf rose to three or four inches, not quite
flatbread but not a great boule either. It must be the
cracker-like crust that makes this method attractive;
crumb's good too with lots of holes.

The crust should be crisp like a good French boule, not
cracker-like. There are several critical points in the
recipe: fully moistening the flour at the beginning; letting
it develop for at least 12 hours, but more like 18-20 is
better; pulling it into a ball; letting it rise that second
time; getting it into a hot enough pot with a lid to bake;
finishing it uncovered. You're probably letting it bake too
long uncovered. Try using a thermometer to see when the
bread is done - 208F.

Right-sized pot matters, too. Too big and the dough spreads
out too far.

I keep cutting back
on water to make dough manageable and am spraying the hot
pot to make the loaf removeable.

Exactly what you shouldn't be doing. It's the heavy
hydration that is the effective substitute for kneading. The
gluten strands need a lot of liquid to move into alignment.
Cutting back on water means that you won't get the gluten
development and, therefore, the gas retention to get a good
rise and a good oven-shoot from the dough. Making the dough
more manageable makes it less likely to work properly. You
shouldn't need to spray the hot pot. If you do, chances are
the pot isn't hot enough. At least 450F oven temp with a
good half-hour heating time.

Probably good to go back and see the original and updates to
see where it's evolved to.

Pastorio