Bakers Lame - double edged razor just as good?
I'm just starting my bread making adventures. Yesterday, I tried Jacob Burton's basic baguettes. Prior to baking, he slices open the tops of the baguettes with what he said was a baker's lame. I'm familiar with the tool, but what he used looked like simply a double-edge razor on a stick. I think he actually said it was a popsicle stick. Will that work just as well?
When I made the bread yesterday, I found a box of brand new single-edged razors and tried one of them. I might as well have been using a spoon to slice the dough. I have nothing against buying a real lame, but I can't get it locally, so I'm going to have to wait till it ships to me before I can use it. And if a double edged razor blade will do the same thing, I can pick up a box at the local drug store.
Double edged razor works perfect! I use them as I have the same problem (no baker's lame in local market...)
Excellent! I'm off to CVS.
is just fine - I've seen many bakers use just that - or a metal stick (Bertinet sells them). I have a slightly posher version (bought as a present) but it still takes (cheap, disposable) double edged razor blades. Works well.
What I use: http://bakerybits.co.uk/bakery-equipment/lames-and-grignettes/bordelaise-professional-lame-or-grignette.html
-Gordon
I remembered this thread this morning and took a photo:
obviously pre-slash - and I forgot to take one post-slash. Ho hum! (but it's the blade we're after here, really!)
-Gordon
Being the good DIY nerd that I am, I split a piece of bamboo to the right width to fit the slots in a double edge razor blade, shaved it to the right length, and carefully threaded a blade onto it. Works well. I change the blade whenever it starts to drag at all. You can lengthen the blade life by cleaning and drying (very carefully) the blade with each use.
I used a double razor blade stuck in my thermometer. Lately I bought a scalpel for a dollar from the internet. It's very good! Sharper than the razor blade.
not sure if it was exactly this one, but just like it.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/10-pcs-11-Carbon-Steel-Scalpel-Surgical-Blades-For-PCB-Circuit-Board-1-pc-3-stainless/32697258322.html?ws_ab_test=sear...
... is to use a plastic coffee stir stick to hold the blade - I've done this in the past with decent results.
Mind you, I never get as good a result as when I use my serrated bread knife, so I guess I'm not a lame kinda guy.
Also, all SORTS of other options mentioned/discussed elsewhere on the forums here.
Let us know which you try & how it works.
....baguettes a morning in, say, a Parisian boulangerie. Especially if you use the models that lock the razor blade (that way there's no panic should the blade spin off and go missing). A blade on its own is fine but, on occasion you might find it difficult to score the dough with your hand so close to its surface. I too used a coffee stirrer but switched to a lame as I moved to larger scale production. In my case that's because you can bend the metal shaft so that you can score easily at different angles, something that's impossible to do with a stick.
I've been using single-edge razors for years and they work beautifully. Not sure why it failed in your hands.
I think the trick is to use the corner of the blade, not the entire length of it.
Next time I make bread (possibly tomorrow), I'll try it again and video it. But I'm definitely going to have double-edge blades available.
Here is a short video on handling and loading the blade onto a makeshift holder. And here is a longer video where the blade is employed during the first segment of the action at the one minute mark. Indeed only the tip is used, therefore giving you four tips per blade. They will stay sharp for many many scores per tip. Plenty of other instructions are available on TFL and YouTube for using a blade of this sort.
practice is what makes all the difference in the world. Yes double edges razors work, as do inexpensive scalpels from the internet. I've even used my wife's ceramic knives and gotten very good results. Te reason they all worked for me is that I followed the tutorial by our own DMSynder, right here in our Lessons section.
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/31887/scoring-bread-updated-tutorial
His tutorial is by far the very best I have ever experienced and once you have learned all he has to teach and practiced sufficiently you probably will be able to slash a loaf with an unsharpened popsicle stick. LOL