Bread making by hand - am I doing something wrong?

[Jojobump1986]

My bloomers & rolls all come out fine but I've recently started making loaves in tins & every time the first 1cm or so inside the crust looks more dense than the middle bits. I've never noticed that with my bloomers. The whole loaf is generally more dense than a bloomer would be but I suppose that's to be expected with a loaf.

Personally, I prefer bloomers but we're not buying bread anymore which means DH has to take it for his lunch & a loaf slice is an easier shape for him. We've compromised - a loaf for Wed-Fri, bloomer for the weekend & rolls for Mon-Tues!

Is there anything I can do to ensure equal density throughout a slice or is this just the way homemade loaves are? Surely the oven must be too hot/cold or I'm over/under-cooking it?!

Try kneading it with oil on the board rather than flour?

I've not found any difference of density between all my different-shaped bread. But when I use a non-stick silicon liner I do see that the bottom is a bit denser, which makes me think that it's the heat getting to the dough that's the problem. What sort of tin do you use? What temperature do you bake the loaves?