I was having a hard time imagining what you were talking about until I saw the picture. Those are indeed perpendicular layers! The thing is, most of us prefer to make our layers level.

It does look like there's a lump of something in the bottom of the upthrust portion. Is that something you put there for perpendicularity? It's a similar color to the pasta, but I can't figure out if it's cheese, pasta, chicken, veal, cabbage or what. If you don't put those ridges in, you should be able to get it to lie flat, but you won't get the perpendicularity.

Other than that, I'm stumped. Most of us aim for all of our layers to lie flat. In that case, it's mostly a matter of not having any outsize lumps.

I have used placed the noodles parallel to the underneath layer and never had ripples. Perhaps that might make a difference.

These waves do not seem to relate to the gaps between noodles and each layer is set down evenly and flat. I made sure of it this in the most recent effort.

I am not sure if it happened in previous Lasagna efforts but I am now using a 9"x9"x4" deep dish Lasagna pan. Either they are enhanced by the extra layers or maybe the extra tall pan caused it. Or something else,...

It happened in each of the two times I used this pan.
The pic doesn't really show the waves but the shadows do.

This post was edited by Emerogork2 on Sat, Dec 27, 14 at 14:59

Oh! Reading Bumblebeez post I figured out that you meant alternating layers crosswise, which is always a fine idea.

The biggest issue, then, besides not putting in big lumps is not to crowd the pasta. It's better to have it come short of the side of the pan by up to a quarter of an inch, than to be crowded in. It needs to lie flat. Unless you boil the pasta soggy, it will continue to absorb moisture from your ingredients, and therefore an exact fit can expand and potentially hump up. Just pinch the lengths off so that they fit easily in the pan, with no tension. It also might help to butt them rather than overlapping, especially if they're thick.

Exactly as Plllog stated. The noodles are still absorbing liquid and are pushing agains the sides of the pan. I give my noodles a fair bit of room from each other as well as the pan sides. Don't cook them to soggy, ick. Break them in half, instead.

Thanks for the responses. It seems that my expanding noodle explains it all. It may be that in previous attempts, I was probably using a pan that accommodated the noodle length although not the height. Back then I had 4 layers in a pan that was only 2 1/2" tall.

It is a good thing that I love Lasagna as with the last two tries, I had others to help consume it although no encouragement was needed. (: This one more test, will be 9 large portions all to myself. (:

Once I make an excellent one, I can save the updated recipe/notes and go on to something else. Now, I have to go out to find some whole milk Ricotta....

I found a box of noodles that look as if someone cut off the rippled edges from lasagna noodles. They are about 1/2 in wide, one side flat, the other side rippled.

I wonder if they would make an interesting woven top not unlike that style of apple pie....
Just a thought...

I lay my noodles all the same direction. I do get small ripples on top, but the ripples are between the noodles, since that's the only place for the filling to expand as it cooks

You might not have an "in between" for the filling to expand as it cooks, so it creates the ripples.

Possible reason:

Your stove fire is not even, very hot in the middle.

It starts to boil in the middle, pushing the layers upwards in the middle.

dcarch

I'm guessing it is too much noodle for the pan. Absorbs liquid and scoots up.
I don't use much 'noodle', and it does still have a lasagna unmistakable flavor.
More veg than noodle. only three layers usually. spread out over the giant turkey roaster pan...
Usually use rice no-bake noodles from pasta joy. Or Barilla.
Freeze in two portions for quick meals.

Every year i make a big harvest lasagna with garden goodies and think in might s**k. Always good unless i over-cook it.

I guess I am a strong traditionalist, no veggies other than onions and/or breaded deep-fried eggplant. I might top with very few chopped peppers or olives though.

The tsunamis are not all that much of a problem and they do tend to add some interest so I am more curious as to how they happen rather than needing to fix it..

I definitely want a tall lasagna with at least 5 layers so , if this is the reason for the distortions, I am going to live with it.

I will build another one tonight and the major changes will be to cook the noodles a bit longer, leave at least 1/4" all around the sides and add more sauce.

It seems that no one else has this situation. Why is it that these things seem unique to my cooking? (:

I regularly do six layers with no tsunami, so you can too.

I didn't mean you should cook the pasta longer or make the lasagna wetter! I rarely boil the pasta. There's one kind of texture, where even when it says not to boil, it doesn't come out well without. That's a thicker pasta with visible texture, almost like pores and it's very very stiff. Fresh sheets go right in with no extra attention. Regular boxed pasta gets soaked in hot water just until pliable. The stiff kind never gets pliable from soaking.

It's actually a good thing when the pasta absorbs the extra moisture. It's only bad when it absorbs all the fat from the cheese as well, when the thicker pasta isn't wet through, making for a dry lasagna with no gooey.

I don't think it's just you. I've seen a minor version in the deli case at Whole Foods. :)

I just built a 6 layer one. Shorter Noodles, cooked slightly longer, cooled in water. Layers: Swiss cheese, Ground Beef, Spinach, Mozzarella, Ground sausage, Ricotta, Topped with Parmesan. Extra sauce in each layer and to fill in the sides.

I usually find that the meat layers are not all that stable. I wonder if I could fry a large, thin "burger" to set in all at once as a layer. Has anyone tried that ?

Right now, it is settling in the refrig to be cooked tomorrow.

"I don't think it's just you. I've seen a minor version in the deli case at Whole Foods. :)"

Do you think I might go in to ask how they get that nice wavy effect?

Tsunami problem solved

Since the noodles as deliberately undercooked then they have not expanded to the finished size. I usually trim them to fit the pan. If I leave a 1/2" clearance at either end of the pan then when they expand while baking they have room and stay flat.

Another option is to make the noodles yourself - then they do not need boiling. I make lasagna frequently and have not bought noodles in longer than I can remember because they are so easy to make. For a 9x13 pan I use 1/2 cup white flour, 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup semolina, 1/3 tsp salt, and three eggs to make the dough. I mix/knead the flours with salt in a bowl first and then add the beaten eggs. This makes a somewhat sticky dough, but I then knead it on the counter until it is not too sticky. Then I put it in a ziplock bag for about an hour (30 minutes minimum) before putting it through the pasta machine. I used to use a hand-cranked machine, but ever since I got an attachment to my KA mixer, the rolling out has gotten so much faster and easier that I make the lasagna that much more often. I generally only roll the dough out to #5, as I want it somewhat thick, but I think you can stop at #4 if you want it even thicker. Once the dough is rolled out, I hang it on a broomstick until I am ready to assemble the lasagna. I normally make the sauce and fillings while I am letting the dough rest in the ziplock bag, and so by the time I roll it out, I am ready to assemble. No need to boil fresh pasta before assembling it, but I do spray the top of the pan with a bit of water before baking, and I always cover the pan. The pasta will absorb some liquid while baking, but not as much as dried pasta would.

I almost never put meat in my lasagna (occasionally I put Italian meatloaf in my sauce), and so I'm not sure how it would work with that.

I second Lars suggestion for home made lasagna pasta noodles. The home made noodles make a much, much better lasagna.

I make the dough using the pasta setting on my bread machine. I always have to add a bit of water but you could use an extra egg. Letting the dough rest before rolling as Lars suggested really helps with the rolling...don't have to make as many passes thru the machine to get a smooth roll. I usually just use all purpose flour but like half AP/ half whole wheat flour if I have ww flour on hand.

I have to dry the sheets a bit by laying them out on the table. Tried the broomstick trick but the Lab thought I had hung that dough out for him to snack on! (Fortunately, he was snacking on drying noodles for chix n' noodles and I was able to shoo him outside & salvage dinner.)

sleevedog, I would love to see your recipe. That lasagna looks fantastic!

Do home made noodles make waves as shown?

No waves that I have ever noticed and I lay the noodle sheets in close together. I don't trim the sheets into neat packaged lasagna noodle looking strips...just layer them in as they come out of the pasta machine. Only trim the ends to fit the dish.

I suspect your waves happened because of using dried noodles that absorbed more moisture and expanded during the bake.

I never had the wave problem even when I used pkg'd. noodles and, towards the end (before making my pasta fresh), I didn't precook the noodles. I used two strips of dried noodle per layer (plenty of room for them to expand) and used plenty of sauce and sometimes added some water if I was a bit short of sauce just to be sure there was enough moisture to rehydrate the pasta during the bake.