The yeast can be quite the critical element. I’m going on what my brother told me who is kind of a cooking fanatic. I think I recall him saying that his results got a lot better when he used a better quality than just store- bought yeast. the thing to remember with baking is that it’s not like a salad where you can add an extra carrot or subtract half a cucumber and it’s still a salad. It is much more like a chemical reaction where the ingredients react in Fairly specific proportions and if you have too much of one, you just end up with unreacted raw material in the final product. The other thing about homemade bread, is that it goes stale in hours, so don’t be afraid of making small batches.
I believe everything you said is accurate. For now, I’ll rely on the expiration date of the yeast. I’ll probably slice the bread soon after baking and store it in the freezer. I bought some plastic bags for just that purpose. I would only use a couple or four slices a day, and it thaws quickly.
One thing I doubt I’ll every try is sourdough bread. Making and maintaining a starter doesn’t seem worth the effort to me.