Why does my bread rise unevenly or from the bottom in the oven?
I recently started baking loafs from a sourdough starter for the first time. I fed and maintained the starter for 8 days before using it the first time.
On the first bake my loafs rose unevenly and didn't form a bottom crust, it just stayed moist like the crumb. The second time I got a weird rise from the bottom.
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I baked these at 475 on a bread stone. Any idea what is going on here? Thanks for any advice!
Best Answer
For the first bake, that didn't form a bottom crust - it sounds like the bread stone might not have been heated enough. An oven with a baking stone needs a lot more preheating, since the reason the stone is useful is that retains heat; it's as slow to cool down as it is to heat up. If the stone was still absorbing heat when you put the dough on, it would keep the bottom from baking properly, since the temperature would be cooler. Try preheating your oven about a half hour more before baking, next time.
For the uneven rising, I'm not sure - it seems like your dough wasn't finished rising before the top of the loaf had already started setting, and it expanded wherever it could. If the top surface of your loaf got a little dried out in your last rising before baking, that stiffness might encourage the rising dough to expand where the dough was softer and still moist. You might brushing the dough lightly with oil during the last rise, or with water just before baking, to keep it flexible enough to rise evenly.
If your dough has a moist surface, the problem might be that it is under proofed (mentioned in the comments here), and needs to rise a little longer before being baked - It will rise in the oven a little bit anyway, but if it has extra rising potential because the yeast wasn't finished, it keeps trying to rise during the baking time, and once the top starts setting it will expand wherever it can. There are ways to test the proofing, one I saw was to poke the bread, and if it springs back quickly it is under proofed, slowly and it is ready to bake, and if it doesn't spring back it's over proofed.
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Quick Answer about "Why does my bread rise unevenly or from the bottom in the oven?"
You need to make sure that you do not leave air pockets in the dough. These air pockets can be a result of a bread that is too loose and can end up close to the surface of the bread. The baking process will expand and push out of the crust wherever they are, causing a burst or split in your crust.Why does my bread rise unevenly in the oven?
When the dough isn't given enough time to rise, the uneven heat from the oven can cause the process to happen unevenly by speeding it up in some parts of the dough more than others. This is what creates the lid-lifting effect and results in a loaf with a split along one side and some of the middle splurging out.Why is my bread rising from the bottom?
If your crust is too dry, it will harden before the bread actually gets the chance to rise. It will also prevent the bread from expanding inside the oven. Due to this, the gas pressure will find a way to escape. It will then create small ruptures in unwanted areas so it can expand.Why does my bread only rise on one side?
Why did my bread blow out the side? Bread blowing out the side happens because the dough was too tight and restricted so couldn't expand upwards, so takes a weak spot on the side. This usually happens from under proofing, bad scoring or the crust setting before rising is complete.Why does my bread go lopsided?
A possible cause of this is if there is not enough liquid. If the dough is too stiff, it will not rise evenly. Please add an extra 10-20 ml of water to the mixture.The 7 Most Common Breadmaking Mistakes You’re Probably Making
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Katerina Holmes, Elle Hughes, Quang Nguyen Vinh, Elle Hughes