Scoring Bread

Scoring tells the loaf where to open in the oven. Use a lame or a fresh razor blade. Cut fast and confidently, about 5 mm deep. Hold the blade at a low angle, around 30 degrees to the surface, for an ear, the raised lip on a good sourdough. On a baguette, make three to five overlapping slashes almost parallel to the loaf, not across it. A boule can take one long curved cut, a cross, or a square. Cold dough straight from the fridge is much easier to score cleanly than warm dough.