The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Slashing

flynnboy's picture
flynnboy

Slashing

Hi,

I am having trouble 'slashing'. Rather than cutting the dough my knife 'drags' it ? I have used razor blades and recently a scalpel trying 2 different style blades. I try and slash as quickly and decisively as I can but it just will not 'cut' !? All comments/suggestions will be very gratefully received.

BTW it is a 70% hydration white Dough.

Thanks !

alfanso's picture
alfanso

Sift and go through all the comments, videos and links

https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/49868/question-about-scoring

Richard Lemieux's picture
Richard Lemieux

I soak the blade in water before each cut and I keep the cuts shorts. It helps if the dough is not too slack already.

JonJ's picture
JonJ

Much easier on cold dough, after a fridge retardation.

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

One often-forgotten tip is to cut with just the far tip of the blade. You want very little surface area of the blade contacting the dough.

Also, see my scoring tutorial which some have found helpful. Scoring Bread: An updated tutorial

Happy baking!

David

Tal's picture
Tal

You will find a good demonstration and explanations (in French, but self explanatory) of how to slash in here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sn0INYBr1fA&t=72s&ab_channel=Ecoleinternationaledeboulangerie

Happy baking,

Tal