# Why is my bread lopsided?



## kara_leigh

I recently started making bread and I think I'm doing fairly well so far, but I do have one problem that I can't seem to figure out. I use a bread machine to knead the dough, then I bake it in the oven. For some reason, one side of the bread rises really well, but the other side just rises maybe an inch or so and that's it. I've tried turning it in the middle of the baking cycle, but that doesn't work either. What am I doing wrong? Do I need to turn it sooner? I'd like to master this bread before I move on to something else.

Here is a picture as an example. ALL of my loafs look like this. 









Also, I knead it in the machine b/c my arms are really weak and I can't knead by hand very well before I get really sore and can barely move my arms. Do most of you knead by hand, or is using a stand mixer okay to do it? I have a Kitchenaid, though I don't have a dough blade. Would using that be the same or better than using the bread machine?


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## upnorthlady

I'm not a bread machine user, I knead everything by hand. But I suspect the problem with your bread is the final shaping. I roll out my dough with a rolling pin to get most of the bubbles out, then slap it by hand, then tightly roll it up and tuck the ends under. I make sure the loaf is sitting properly in the pan and not leaning to one side.


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## kara_leigh

upnorthlady said:


> I'm not a bread machine user, I knead everything by hand. But I suspect the problem with your bread is the final shaping. I roll out my dough with a rolling pin to get most of the bubbles out, then slap it by hand, then tightly roll it up and tuck the ends under. I make sure the loaf is sitting properly in the pan and not leaning to one side.


I don't roll it with a pin, but I do punch it down to get most of the bubbles out, then I also roll it up and tuck the ends. Even before I started doing that, though, the loafs were lopsided. The picture is of the loaf I made last night, with the punching, rolling, and tucking. lol It seems no matter what I do, they turn out that way.


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## Head Roller

Is your bread lop sided after proofing (rising)? or does this occur in your oven? Where do you proof your bread?


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## kara_leigh

The lopsided look comes in my oven while it bakes.

Some of the proofing is done in the bread machine, but after I punch it and roll it, it proofs for about an hour in the pan I plan to bake it in. I sit it on the stove during that period.


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## Head Roller

I am fascinated by this issue... (FYI - I ran a large bakery for many, many years.. and have had to troubleshoot all kinds of things!!)

If it happens in the oven... does the bread bake higher on the same side of the *oven*? Do you have a convection oven?


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## kara_leigh

I think it bakes higher towards the back of the oven, which is why we thought turning it partially through the baking process would fix it, but it doesn't. Maybe we need to turn it sooner...but when?? I don't think we have a convection oven, but I'm not sure.


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## okiemomof3

is your oven off balance?


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## kara_leigh

Uhhhh... lol I have no clue. How would I check to see if it is?

ETA - I put a bowl of water in it to see, and it looks fairly level to me. *shrug*


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## Head Roller

I feel like you have an uneven heat issue. Turning the bread will not help because the "Crust" and initial pop of the top is formed in the first few minutes. One thing you might try is baking the bread with the pan turned 90Âº from your normal configuration. Another thing you could do is add steam. As soon as you put the bread in the oven, use a spray bottle with water and add a couple squirts aimed at the elements or the sides.. somewhere that will cause immediate steam... then close the door right away! This gives the tops a "pop" and a little extra color.


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## kara_leigh

Thanks Head Roller! I'll give those things a try the next time I make bread. I'll let you know how it turns out.


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## U8sushi2

roll out the dough with a rolling pin and then roll the dough up into a log before baking


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## sewsilly

check to see if you have a gasket leak on your oven... is the gasket old, perhaps and needs replacing. Sounds like uneven heat to me.


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