I've tried baking bread several times in the past and have recently started to try and up my game. I followed the bread making lessons to a T and still ended up with an unsatisfactory crust. How do I achieve that nice rich brown flaky crust that I see in the video and in professional loaves?

What I've done so far to achieve a better crust:

-Used only fresh high-quality bread flour of at least 12g protein per 100g
-Monitored the fermenting and proofing stage as instructed in the video and utilized the finger test to ensure my loaf was ready.
-Spritzed the loaf with water and spritzed the bottom of the oven with water to add humidity.
-Attempted to bake loaves under, at, and above recommended temperatures.

No matter what I try it seems like the crust dries out almost instantly once it's in the oven and it turns a pale almost complete white and hardens up. If I leave the loaf in the oven I can get a light blond color eventually after 20 or 30 minutes of baking, if left in longer I can get it to a light brown but the exterior is almost entirely smooth instead of being that nice crunchy flaky texture.

Do I need a baking stone? Hotter temperatures? Different flour?

Help! No matter what I do I can't produce good crust.

I used to get really frustrated by my inability to properly roast a chicken. No matter how precise I followed the roasting instructions, it always came out pale and without a crust.

Then, someone on this forum pointed out to me that it might be my oven's inability to properly warm up to the right temperature. I purchased an oven thermometer and found out that when I turn my oven to 250, it barely warms up to 200, and on hotter settings the difference can be even bigger.

I'd suggest to get an oven thermometer and make sure it heats up to the right temperature.

Yes, Daniel is correct. Start here and make sure to test the temperature of your oven. Baking at the proper temperature will make a huge difference. Also, make sure you're not adding too much water when placing the dough in the oven. Too much steam will create a very pale and thick crust. It takes time and practice to discover the perfect balance.

Also, just a note for the future. It would be helpful if you could post these sorts of questions on the discussion tab of the appropriate lesson (i.e. Stages of Bread Making). That way, all students will be able to benefit from all of the related questions/answers. Happy baking! Cheers!

Thanks! I'll keep experimenting and I'll keep the discussion tab in mind for future questions.