Having Problems Scoring (bread, not drugs, that is!)
Hi all,
I've been making bread for a little over a year now and I have never been able to score my bread properly. I've tried a bread knife, a sharpened cook's knife, a home made lame (chopstick and razor) and nothing I do seems to cut through the dough like bakers seem to in the countless videos I have watched on how to score bread.
My standard recipe is this.
100% white bread flour
65% water
2% yeast
2% salt
Retarded overnight and left to rise first time 3 hours second time 1 1/2 (in well floured brotform).
The bread always tastes great and the crumb is fine, but any time I try to score the surface with any of the above three types of blade I mentioned, it always drags the dough along the blade and never makes a clean cut. I always wet the blade before the first cut and regularly throughout, but it never seems to make a difference. I have tried slow and steady cuts as well as fast strong cuts.
Does anybody have any idea what I might be doing wrong? It'd be nice for my bread to look good as well as taste it!
Thanks,
Greg
Greg: Have you seen David's excellent tutorial on scoring? I have attached it below. Scoring is difficult, and it doesn't always work out. I think many of us are always striving for perfection, and we will never reach it! Good luck with your quest. Best, Phyllis
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/31887/scoring-bread-updated-tutorial
I had the same problem as you until I started proofing the loaves seam-side-up and then flipping to bake seam-side-down. About this time I also started using rice flour to dust my cutting boards on which I proof the loaves.
The combination of these changes suddenly made scoring 70%+ hydration loaves a very straighforward task.
Regards-
Dave
of the blade. The very tip.
Phyllis - Yes I have seen that video, and it has helped me understand the function of scoring but it hasn't really helped me conquer my chronic ineptitude!
Dave - Do you make rice flour by putting dry rice in a blender or do you buy it? I live in Beijing and the rice flour we have here is super fine; it's largely used for making rice noodles and dim sum and the like. Is it the coarseness of the flour or just the difference of the flour here that you've found makes a difference?
Mini Oven - I'll give that a try next time and see how it works out.
Greg:
I live stateside and purchase Goya brand rice flour. It's pretty finely ground. I use the rice flour because of what I read here, although I will say that 1) it is coarser than wheat flour, and 2) I think it absorbs much more water than wheat flour (which results in superior "anti stick" properties).
Also, take a look at the King Arthur website for the training videos. One of the videos shows the baker scoring baguettes ... when I saw that particular bit of the video it was a shocker - the speed at which they score the loaves is dramatic and amazing. Very fast.
Another thing to keep in mind is to develop plenty of tension in the outermost portion of the dough ... this (in combination with good oven spring) is key to having a slash that translates into a nice ear and grigne.
BTW any progress since your first post on this thread?
Regards-
Dave
A good score happens pretty quickly. A catchphrase I heard once was:' If you lag you'll snag and drag'.
Try this:
Position the loaf so you will score left-to-right. Put your thumb on the bottom of the lame. Using just the tip of the blade quickly slash across the loaf, using your arm, not your wrist. Scoring a bâtard takes less than a second.
You shouldn't need to dip your blade in anything; professionals don't. Don't overthink, just slash. Eventually it will click for you and nearly all of your slashes will be great.
Alright, thanks Bob. I'll try to be a little more assertive next time. I just often worry that I will deflate the dough (especially if it's high hydration) if I'm too agressive when scoring. I think I'll try it out with a couple of baguettes so I've got back up if one goes wrong.
Dave - I only have time to do my bread over the weekend, so I'll give it a bash tomorrow and see how it goes. I haven't actually seen the KA scoring vid, so I'll take a little look at that now, thanks.
I am having the same issue with high hydration (80%) dough. Has anything worked for you?
I know my surface tension isn't all it should be, more folds, maybe, and more rolling during preshaping and shaping.
and see if that helps.
I can only tell you how I do it.
I use a sharp knife, I prefer a curved boning knife. I don't go fast or slow. I score about 3/4" deep. I make the cut off to the side and curve it around the boule or loaf.
If the dough is a very high hydration and is sticky I'll hit the blade with some lube like oil butter pam etc.
...it has remarkably improved since
1) proofing the loaves seam-side-up and then flipping to bake (ref. above), and
2) baking (and scoring) cold dough.
Taking an aggressive attitude when scoring (fear not the loaf) helps!