bread is a whole lot easier than most people think. unfortunately, some bakers run around using lots of French, strange terms, odd language . . .
"...using your lame, quickly slash the loaf . . ."
horse feathers. I've been using my serrated tomato knife for years - and not a single loaf has ever complained.....
flour yeast salt water. how hard can it be?
actually, you can leave out the salt....
add fats / egg / sugar / etc - these all affect the bread - but in the end, it is a very simple process.
the one trick to easy bread baking is: go by weight - get a scale - ditch the cups thing.
I'm lazy, so I have a stand mixer with a dough hook. that and a timer take care of the whole "knead it until you drop" thing.
Leave out the salt and your bread will lack flavor.
Retarding the dough (cold fermentation) allows for additional time for the sugars in the flour to be extracted, adding an additional layer of flavor. To really take advantage of this process, it should be refrigerated for at least 24 hours.
To get the dough closer to temperature after sitting in the fridge, try rolling out the dough on the counter, then working it to introduce the warmth from your hands. It will accelerate the warming up period. I have done this and shaped the loaves, then put them in a warm oven to get them to final rise. If you're in a hurry, this is not a process to be utilizing.
As for your loaves going stale, after cool down, I slice my bread, bag it and put it in the freezer. It will keep for at least two weeks this way. When you want bread, just put a frozen slice in the nuke for 10-12 seconds. Then you can toast it or make sandwiches with it. Me and the Mrs make our lunches the night before with frozen bread, then put them in the fridge before going to bed. It's easier to spread peanut butter and jelly on frozen bread as well. We rarely have bread at room temperature unless it's going to be consumed within 24 hours.