bread
We make bread for sandwiches a few times a week, but slicing them is always a pain. The pieces just don't come out uniform. I end up with angled pieces as the knife doesn't end up going straight down.
Is there a trick to getting uniform pieces from a loaf?
You said that the dough rose but then didn't proof.
Lightly textured whole wheat bread is difficult for two reasons-
1- There isn't as much gluten.
2- The gluten that is there tends to get cut up by sharp wheat fragments.
The result is, as with all poor gluten development, that the loaves have trouble maintaining their structure, don't rise as well, and the result is the dense, tough, or doughy bread that most people think of with horror when they think of whole wheat.
There are a couple ways to deal with this problem-
1- Use very very finely ground wheat flour. If you can feel gritty shards then it will have trouble rising.
2- Add vital wheat gluten. This may be seen as cheating and is similar to the transitional recipes that you said you had success with. Many whole wheat recipes call for extra gluten.
If you don't add more gluten in some form you can make a successful boule but don't expect it to be as light and open as one made with white flour.
What you might lose in delicateness you will more than make up for in flavor and nutrition.
You may wish to try a dark colored baking sheet, such as this one from Chicago Metallic (not an endorsement, I haven't tried it.)
The dark finish will help absorb radiant heat, which is a major mode in baking, and better brown the bottoms. In fact, such a tray probably would bake too fast for the bottoms of cookies.
Buttering it will also help conduct heat from the pan to the bottom crust, although you will also get a touch of that almost-fried texture (I like it, but it might not be what you have in mind).
Best Answer
Try using a bow style bread knife. It works well because it allows you to put pressure on the opposite side of the loaf. Also, the bow helps you visually line up the slice.