January 17, 2023 - 5:23pm
Bread too dense at the bottom of the loaf
All the bread I make is great, except it always seems to be denser at the bottom of the loaf than at the top. There are nice big evenly spaced air bubbles at the top that evenly change down to tiny air bubbles at the bottom. What does one do to prevent or minimize that. I have thought of tipping the oaf upside down half way through proofing, but I like to proof in the bread pan, and that prevents me from doing that. Thanks in advance. This site has helped me improve my bread making skills over the years.
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I am thinking I should add more information. I make a variety of breads, using slightly different recipes by making the dough in "dough mode" using a Panasonic bread maker.. After the dough cycle is done I remove the bread, reform it into loaf shape and put it in a bread pan . For proofing, I set the bread pan in a oven with the oven light on for heat (The oven temp is around 100-110 F).
Proofing takes roughly 3 hours. I then bake at 350 degrees for usually 30 minutes.
Again, the bread comes out good, but the top is light and it is progressively denser as you go towards the bottom of the loaf.
I do not score the bread, maybe I should?
During the last 10-15 minutes of baking, remove the bread from the pan and bake without the pan.
Yippee
How low in the oven do you bake? Try baking on the lowest rack to get more intense heat at the bottom of the dough to speed up the rise there. Other than that, it is hard to combat gravity.
Benny
Without pictures, it's hard to say, but generally small holes at the bottom and big holes along the top would make me think that the gluten structure isn't quite there. The dough can't hold onto the gas, which rises, and also creates large uneven bubbles as smaller bubbles collapse and join together.
if not describe the shapes of the bubbles in the crumb at various levels. Also is the pan shiny? Have you tried draping a towel over the pan while it proofs, to insulate top to spread out the warmth? Oven light heat might not be circulating well and warming the top of the oven/loaf more than the bottom. I agree with all the comments so far.
Think this might be it actually
I tried an experiment based on the above suggestions. I made my batch of dough and split it into two loaves as usual. But instead of putting them both in pans, I only put one in a pan. I proofed and cooked them side by side. The loaf cooked in the pan was dense at the bottom and airy at the top. The one not cooked in a pan was quite uniform. So It is the pan that is causing a condition for uneven yeast activity by allowing heat penetration at different rates.
My wife likes the uniform shape that the pan provides. I am not sure how to address this. I think I will try the same thing again, and cover the one in a pan with a towel to see how much it helps. But I still have parts of two loaves to finish eating first:)
Make parchment slings or grease the pan for easy release. Bake without the pan for the last 10-15 minutes.
P.S. See the "Bake" part of this bread.
Yippee
I will try that too, Yippee. At least I now know the problem, and will try different solutions on future batches.