# Why is my bread doughy in the middle?



## jilly

Um, yeah, that's basically my whole question.

these are some of my guesses, but I've only been trying to make bread for about 3 months now. About 1 in 3 batches turns out doughy. So, is it that I"m too impatient and don't let it rise enough on the second rising? Am I taking it out of the oven too soon? Not adding enough flour? Oven not hot enough because only the bottom element works?

Enlighten me, bread baking braniacs!


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## VikingKvinna

I'm no expert, but my guess would be that it's simply not cooked through. We have an antique oven that only heats from the bottom, also, and I bake successful bread pretty often. So I don't think it's that -- is the top crust getting nice and brown? And does it seem risen after the second rise?

The other suggestion is to try a different recipe (assuming you're using only one recipe now). It could be something about that recipe that's just more goopy (technical bread-baking term, there







) and you need to tinker with the ingredients.

HTH -- keep trying. Homemade bread is so good!

~nick


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## dis

Before you take it out of the oven, are you tapping it to see if it sounds hollow? I think you are underbaking. How's your oven? Is it fairly old? Do you have an oven thermometer in it to check the temperature?

If you have a fairly old oven, and 1 out of 3 loaves is coming out undercooked, I'd suspect a problem with your heating element. If you have an oven thermometer you can check that it's heating up consistently (or that it's not).


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## Kari_mom

I would check the oven temperature as suggested. If your oven is running hotter than the setting, the crust will brown before the interior is fully baked.

You can also check the internal temperature of the bread loaf. Instant read thermometers are pretty cheap, and you just stick the pointy end into the loaf. Most breads are fully baked when their internal temperature reaches 190 degrees. Using an instant read thermometer takes a lot of the guesswork out of baking bread.


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## HappiLeigh

Another vote for it's just not cooked through...
sometimes especially when I'm trying a new recipe, I am surprised by how very dark the outside of a loaf gets before it is cooked inside. Don't be fooled by a nice golden brown color on the outside--that's no indication your bread is done! I agree with above posters who suggested a thermometer or thumping to get the hollow sound. After several soggy loaves, I have a little rule about baking for 5-7 minutes longer than my intuition says, and they usually turn out okay.







Also, if you can hold the bread in an oven mitt, and flip it out of the loaf pan and look at the middle of the bottom, sometimes that will give you a hint that it's not done through yet (if the middle of the bottom still looks doughy or isn't nice and gold).
Good luck!


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## wendy1221

I'll bet your oven heats too hot. I always have an oven thermometer that I take when we move (we rent.) At our last apartment, our oven was always hot. At this one, our oven is always 25-50 degrees cooler than what I set it to.


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## Ruthla

It's not baked enough. I just got some pyrex loaf pans and they are WONDERFUL- I don't have to remove the bread from the pan to see if the bottom is fully cooked or not.


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