loaf

thumb|upright=1.35|A baking|baker takes round loaves of fresh [[bread out of the oven with a peel]]

A loaf (: loaves) is a (usually) rounded or oblong quantity of food, typically and originally of bread. It is common to bake bread in a rectangular bread pan or loaf pan because some kinds of bread dough tend to collapse and spread out during the cooking process if not constrained; the shape of less viscous doughs can be maintained with a bread pan whose sides are higher than the uncooked dough. More viscous doughs can be hand-moulded into the desired loaf shape and cooked on a flat oven tray.