Orientating the Oven

You are baking a cake and when you check on it you see that the top of the cake is very uneven.

One side is much taller than the other. There are several reasons that can cause these results.

Here are just a few:

If you are baking more than one pan in the oven, you may not have adequate air circulation. If the side of the pans are touching each other or the sides of the oven you can get results like this.

When you poured the batter into the pan, did you tap it down or spread it out to make sure that it was evenly distributed across the bottom?

Your oven may be heating unevenly. You can test this by placing pieces of bread across every inch of rack space with your oven set at 300º. After a few minutes start keeping a close eye on the bread. Are any pieces browning faster than others? Once your test is complete (before the bread starts burning) turn off the heat of your oven and open the door to let cool a bit. Using a pair of tongs remove the bread and save for stuffing or making bread crumbs with.

Your oven may not be level. While the oven is cool grab a common level to check and see if inside your oven is truly level. Open the door of the cold oven and place the level inside on the rack, then on the bottom of the oven floor. It could be the Oven itself, or it could just be an uneven rack. You can also check the surface of the oven in the same manner.