Why does my bread look like a turtle?

1st: It sounds like you need to do the oven toast test, which tests the oven for uneven heating. Buy a bag of cheap, sliced bread, line the racks with the bread, turn on the oven, and wait until the bread starts browning, then pull it out in the exact configuration it was in the oven. This will give you an idea of where the uneven spots in your oven are. (Check both the bottoms and tops of the bread.) You can place the racks in different configurations to give yourself a 3-d idea. Thttp://obedientingredients.wordpress.com/2012/08/30/oven-hot-spot-test/ Once you know where the heating is uneven, you can adjust using some of the methods here. 2nd, if you're not already doing so, double check your gluten development after kneading using http://www.thekitchn.com/bakers-techniques-how-to-do-th-70784 to check the opaqueness of your dough when stretched. (Photos of the progression http://www.wildyeastblog.com/2007/07/07/gluten/ 3rd (you may also already know this): Wait to cut into your bread until it's cooled. I know I love warm bread, but it needs to continue developing after you pull it from the oven.

Definitely buy an oven thermometer. We rent, and none of our ovens do what we tell them to. My brother had an oven that wasn't even consistently off... It'd be too hot one time and too cool the next! They're about ten bucks.

Came in to say something similar to Jane the Brown. It seems like your oven might only heat at the bottom, the top (broiler) might not get warm at all or not warm enough. So while baking, the bread forms this brown, hard bottom fairly quickly and can not rise properly. That's why it's dense and chewy. And as the loaf gets little heat from top, it forms this rounded top and remains pale. First I would inspect the oven settings - maybe this oven needs a different setting than regular ovens to heat top and bottom at the same time? Second, check if the broiler works at all. Third, check temperature with an oven thermometer. Generally: High temps for crusty breads. And longer baking time on lower temps for soft, pillow-y bread. Since you made those recipes before and now they work the first step to fix is the oven.

I'm not sure what the answer to the turtle bread is, but contrary to travelwithcats's experiences, all ovens I have used heat from the bottom for baking and they work just fine. Gas ovens have a broiler in a drawer under the oven and the electric ovens I've used do not use the broiler element at the top when baking. So that may be a red herring.

Well, maybe I'm doing it wrong then? My oven has similar settings like described http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/21343/greetings-and-which-oven-setting and I've always set it on "top and bottom".

I agree it looks like a cold oven. If you don't already, get a baking stone; it'll act as a battery for heat. You don't have to get anything special; an unglazed tile will also work. I definitely second the oven thermometer. Oven thermostats are calibrated at the factory, and in most cases, never again thereafter-- don't trust anything built in to the oven. As for protein, you can add casein to up the protein levels in bread--- add milk powder. You should also get some distilled water and try that. As for straight browning, you can finish bread like anything else-- bake it to within 95% completion, and then finish with the broiler on. The broiler (top element on high) is basically made for browning -- you can also think of it as an upside-down grill. Get the right brown you want, and then if you need any more time throw foil over the bread and switch back to the baking element.

Are you spraying water in your oven as well?

I agree, it's your oven, so the first thing to do is to get an http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B005KDEIZ0/metafilter-20/ref=nosim/ to verify what temperatures your oven is really getting.

Is your new place in the same city and the same distance from a body of water, or did you move to a place with a different level of humidity? That can affect the texture of baked goods.