How To Score Bread Loaves Before Baking

Scoring is the technique term for slashing bread dough before baking with a sharp knife or lame. Slashing creates weak spots in the bread’s crust, allowing for expansion instead of burst seams. What feels like a task is a fine detail between beautiful baguettes and boring “French bread” loaves. Here’s what you need to know about scoring bread dough.

Scoring is generally done after the bread’s finally rise and just before the loaves go in the oven. These intentional splits give the bread more room for their final rise in the oven without splitting the carefully closed seams. Slashing can also be done for purely decorative reasons.

Professional bread bakers use a scoring tool called a “lame.” It’s essentially a small wand with a thin sharp blade attached. The lame has a small curve to it that helps make a shallow cut in the bread dough. A lame can be purchased online for about $10, or you can use a sharp knife (I like a fillet knife for this maneuver) or a razor blade. I’ve found a razor blade more closely mimics the lame’s thin blade than even the sharpest knife will.

Read more: Essential Kitchen Tools: Bread Baking

• Move the blade with confidence; faster strokes make cleaner cuts in the dough.
• Score across the bread axis rather than across the loaf.
• Make the cuts at a 30- to 45-degree angle and make them about 1/4-inch deep.