I'm posting this because I can't for the life of me figure out why I'm having this problem. I've tried punching-down, folding, not folding, long proof, short proof, rolling the loaf tight, rolling the loaf loose, bench resting, not bench resting, spray oil, pretty much everything I can think of and yet these pullman loaves always split on one side about an hour into the final proof. Any insight anyone can provide would be much appreciated. 

BTW, these pictures were taken just before the loaves went into the oven.

From yesterday, with one turn at 45 minutes into the bulk fermentation.

Today, no turn.

Thanks in advance.

I am trying to duplicate my grandmother's recipe for salt-rising bread.  I can make a good starter and a good sponge.  My finished loaves split, either on the sides or on top, or both.  I knead the bread in a Kenwood stand mixer and I suspect I'm either kneading improperly or underproofing the loaves.  I'm using about 55% hydration.  If I add more flour and go down to 45%, I make bricks that sometimes still split on the sides.  I knead the dough on a setting of 2-4.  If I use a slower speed, the dough sticks to the sides of the bowl and turns into taffy!  I'm typically kneading for 8-10 minutes.

After I shape the loaves, I'm filling my loaf pans about 1/3 full.  I've been raising the loaves until double and have gone so far as to put some of the dough in a measuring cup to be sure I was really letting it double.  Loaves still split!  By accident I set my dough in the measuring cup aside last night and forgot about it.  This morning, that sample had more than tripled in volume, making me suspect I'm still underproofing.

Any advice to this newbie greatly appreciated.

Ed

I'm having a problem with my sough dough loafs splitting length wise during baking. I bake them at 400 degrees with a pan of water on the bottom rack. After 10 minutes I recoat them with corn starch/water, rotate them and continue baking for 25 minutes.

They split during the second baking. Can someone help me solve this problem?

toglenn