February 20, 2016 - 9:51am
slashing dough
How Do I Get A Razor To Slash My Risen Dough? I Used A Brand New Exacto knife Floured The Dough And Knife But it Just Drags Across And Sticks To The Dough. Never Cuts It Just Deflates It. I have Also Tried Very Sharp Butcher Knives With The Same Poor Results
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I tried a razor for a bit too, but I've gone back to a sharp serrated steak knife. Seems to work much better. On very slack doughs I'll usually sprinkle a little flour over the surface of the loaf first to reduce the 'drag'.
I agree. An alternative to a bread lame is a good serrated knife and add that the serrations be scalloped in shape, not "D" shaped like Cutco or Lamson Sharp. I use a Clauss 9" offset.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rb0lljsKk80. This is mostly (but not all) specific to scoring baguettes, but the same general concept can be applied to all doughs as he demonstrates. Use only the angled tip of the blade to insert the point of the blade into the dough, and then do not linger on drawing the blade through the dough - that is a sure fire way to do it wrong. Be forthright and sure handed with your movement without rushing it. I dip the tip of my blade into a drop of olive oil to help prevent drag. Works for me.
... razor blade held in a grignette.
Never oiled the blade or dusted it with flour - I turn the blade round mid-week. It's used to slash about 150 loaves a week (I change the blade weekly)
Swiftly and decisive is about all I can suggest.
-Gordon
Gordon,
Don't you use all 4 corners of the razor and get "4 blades in 1"? I'll guess that 120 to 150 scores per 4 tips seems right. Less, if I'm scoring through fruit nuts and seeds. Of course my blades last week's longer than yours do, considering the volume of my home baking activity vs. your business activity.
It's a tricky thing to manage, so I don't bother. And while I'm left-handed, I'm relatively ambidextrous with a knife and often use the blade in the hand that's nearest and I score both ways. Even when just using one hand, I'll score 2-3 loaves one way, then the other, depending on how they're on the loading board - that uses both corners of the exposed end of the blade. ie. imagine boule in-front of you, make a horizontal slash right to left, then another left to right using the opposite corner of the blade, then the third R-L, and the 4th (if I do that) L-R. Then mini cuts in-between the long slashes, again zig-zagging. Not quite the same for cross cutting (+ or # shape), but that's not a common cut for me) but you get the idea (I hope!)
My loaves have a mix of plain wheat (some with a portion of wholemeal) and some with "bits" in - seeds on-top, or a seed/grain mix inside. I think they have much more an impact on the sharpness - and I can feel a difference after a few days. I have tried to swap the blade round on a weekly basis, but cost-wise it's not that expensive - a pack of 10 blades costs £3.50, so that's 10 weeks worth, or 1500+ loaves, 0.23p per loaf ...
-Gordon
"Never Cuts It Just Deflates It"
Sounds to me like the dough is a bit over proofed. Try scoring sooner while the surface has more tension and then into the oven.
I get my best results with a kuhn ricon nonstick serrated knife.
fefreed,
I feels ya pain.
The times when I get the daily humidity, cool temps, dough hydrations perfect, wonderful gluten structure, and then slashes like is generally only seen on the 'video's', WOW. I do my 'goal-line' dance around the house. Needless to say my wife thinks I've lost it, but my dog is ecstatically caught up in my joy and joins in. What a sight!
Seriously I have found that technique is only part of the struggle. The dough really makes or breaks you. And hydration I think is the most critical along with all that is mentioned above.
When I form my Baguettes I can tell if the dough seems 'slack' or the hydration is a little high. Not much I can do at this juncture so I continue on. When the Baguettes have about 20 minutes left on the proof I uncover the Couche and allow the surfaces to 'firm-up' slightly.
I then, using a curved blade Lame, I shakily make my slashes in quick smooth strokes using only the tip of the blade.
Then I hope for good oven spring using a lot of steam…….
Remember that baking bread is like playing golf….. not all shots are great, but when you have a great one it keep you in the game…...
Just my experience on this vertical learning curve…… Have fun……
Once you figure out how to score the dough well, understand the differing hydrations and density of the dough, etc. what you will find is consistency from bake to bake. Your expectations will be that the scoring will be good, instead of hoping it will be. Rather than being ecstatic when your bread comes out well-scored and you see a nice bloom and grigne, you'll reach a point of being disappointed when it doesn't score and open as you envisioned.
It is just another piece of the whole skill set to get down. Reading when to stop mixing, when to stretch and fold, when... And if all of the steps leading up to the scoring, including having shaped the dough with a nice and taut skin have gone as anticipated, it will be up to your learned scoring skills to complete the dough portion of the bread.
With the exception of the few who just have the 'knack' naturally, it is a bit of a slog for most of us, but it will come with time and practice.
Thanks So Much Everyone For Your Help Ill B Attempting A Boule In The Morning After Work. Will Post To Let u Know How It Goes
I did all those things - serrated knives, super-sharp Global knives hand-held razor blades - but in the end I bought the real deal..
http://bakerybits.co.uk/bakery-equipment/lames-and-grignettes.html
So much easier, so much better
Nice people to deal with as well - no question too silly
Alfanso,
Well stated…… Sometimes I wish that I was one of the folks that has the "natural-knack"..! But the "struggle" sure makes the journey sweeter! Or so I keep telling myself.
fefreed….. Below is my favorite Lame & believe me I've tried a few….
prof_fr…… "doing all those things" is part of the show, huh???
http://www.amazon.com/Breadtopia-NA-Bread-Lame/dp/B009FCUYV4
The very best technique for slashing that worked for me is to follow the write-up by dmsnyder, then practice, re-read his tutorial and keep practicing. His instructions took me from mutilating my loaves to making professional looking loaves with a bit of practice.
I only bake with Einkorn which is the stickiest, loosest dough I have even seen, by far. I had given up on slashing it because ether Einkorn was so uncooperative but dmsnyder's excellent primer taught me everything I needed to know.
Scoring Bread made with high-hydration dough