Since we strive for a measure of visual consistency with our loaves, proper scoring is an important skill to develop. As bread encounters the fierce heat of the oven, it undergoes enormous expansion dur-ing the first few minutes of oven sprdur-ing. By slicdur-ing the dough with a razor or cutting it with scissors to intentionally create weak spots in the dough, the baker attempts to control the final shape of the loaf.
Bread that is unscored will pop rather indelicately any place it finds weakness along the surface. Loaf vol-ume also increases when the bread is properly scored;
by enabling the loaf to expand in certain areas, maximum loaf volume is encouraged. Conversely, unscored or improperly scored bread often has a somewhat distressed and truncated appearance.
Visual appeal is another reason we score bread.
While a baguette has a recognized and established technique for scoring, there is a great deal of latitude in how we score round and oval loaves. With a skillful use of blade or scissors, the baker brings visual variety to his or her loaves. People do eat with their eyes, and it is exciting to see a bread rack filled with an array of shapes and cuts, patterns and styles. This brings us to a fourth reason we score our loaves: It becomes the signature of the baker. It is a pleasure to look at a loaf that has been skillfully scored and to recognize it as your own. I have often felt that if ten of the world’s finest bakers got together, and each made a few dozen baguettes using the same equipment and ingredients, and each scored his own baguettes, each one of those ten bakers would know exactly which were his breads when they came out of the oven. How we hold the blade, the depth and angle of the cut, and the length and overlap of each cut all contribute to making our personal technique our personal signature.
Two types of blades (or lames) are used to score bread: curved and straight. The curved is appropriate for cutting “ears” in baguettes and oval loaves; the straight blade is used when vertical cuts are made on round or oval loaves. Properly scoring a baguette begins by holding the lame at the extreme left end of the dough (for right-handed bakers). The lame is held so that the razor is at about a 30-degree angle to horizontal. Keeping the wrist rigid, a swift, straight,
Curved and straight lames for scoring bread
used to make repetitive vertical scorings along the dough’s surface, either lengthwise, crosswise, cross-hatched, or at an angle to the length of the loaf. To create a loaf with one proud end-to-end opening, use the curved blade. Hold it as in scoring a baguette, that is, with the blade concave and at about a 30-degree angle. Begin at the top of the extreme left side of the loaf (for right-handed bakers) and, keeping the wrist rigid, slice swiftly straight to the other end of the loaf.
The cut should be straight, and, as in scoring the baguette, only a slight piercing of the surface skin is necessary. It may seem that a straight and shallow cut will not be sufficient to open the loaf. Once in the oven, though, the loaf will expand and the cut will open beautifully. It may also seem that if a shallow cut gives a good opening, a deep cut will result in a more prominent opening. More is not better, though, and a deep cut will simply collapse from its own weight.
Using a straight blade to cut round or oval loaves offers the baker (and consumer) a wide variety of visual possibilities. The straight blade is held perpen-dicular to the loaf; in this way, it differs from the flat cutting angle used with the curved blade. Incisions with the straight blade are generally slightly deeper than those made with the curved blade, in order to encourage maximum expansion in the oven, and because the baker is not attempting to develop the kind of “ear” associated with baguettes. Again, strive for symmetry, evenness of line length and depth, and a balanced pattern that not only is pleasing to the eye, but that also encourages good dough expansion.
Correct scoring technique
Scoring a baguette c
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Scissors can be used to cut rolls, as well as round, oblong, and pan loaves, giving a different effect than that achieved when cutting with a blade. When cutting bread in a loaf pan, begin at the end closest to you, keeping the scissors perpendicular to the dough, and walk it down the loaf, snipping at regular intervals along the length. Round loaves can be cut around the shoulder or in the center of the loaf. Use both hands when cutting with scissors. The top hand, of course, holds the scissors through the loops. The thumb and index finger of the bottom hand hold the scissors by the shaft. Two hands are used rather than just one for a couple of reasons: First, the bot-tom hand acts as a sort of depth gauge, helping to ensure that each snip is at the same depth. Second, the bottom hand is actively engaged with the work of closing the scissors at each snip. Cutting a few dozen breads or innumerable dozens of rolls with
Scoring a round loaf with a straight lame a
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Scoring an oval loaf with a curved lame a
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width of the bread. Cut briskly to get a crisp and clean cut and, using the fingers of the other hand, place the cut piece to one side of the loaf. Move the scissors down the loaf and make a second cut, this time placing the cut piece of dough to the other side of the loaf. Continue to work down the length of the dough, alternating the placement of the cut dough pieces, first to one side and then to the other.
scissors is tiring work; by using the bottom hand to share some of the burden, the baker lessens what would otherwise be quite a demanding task.
A baguette of a slightly longer and slightly more slender shape is preferred for the épi de blé (“sheaf of wheat”). Hold the scissors at a shallow angle in rela-tion to the baguette, as shown in the diagram. Open the blades of the scissors so they are wider than the
Cutting a round loaf with scissors
Cutting a round roll with scissors Scissor position for cutting épis de blé
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Cutting épis de blé a
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Use a rolling pin of narrow diameter (perhaps 1½ to 2 inches thick for loaves, 1 inch or less for rolls or deco-rative pieces). The dough should be divided, pre-shaped, and given its final shaping. Liberally flour the top surface of the dough (any excess will be shaken off). When the dough has relaxed, place the rolling pin in the center of the loaf and push down into the loaf. Once the pin is at the bottom, roll it slightly back and forth to create an open valley, with equal mountains of dough on each side. There should be enough flour beneath the loaf so that it does not stick to the work surface during the pinning. Remove The most graceful épis are ones where the scissors
cut deepest and leave a thin core of dough. These are also, however, the most fragile. Conversely, while an épi cut with a thick core is sturdy, it lacks gracefulness.
After the bake, be sure the épis are thoroughly cooled in a flat position before being stood up on a bread rack. If displayed while still warm, they will almost certainly slump into a bent shape, or worse, break at a thin spot in the core.
A final method of scoring bread is with a rolling pin. There is a lovely shape called pain fendu, or “split bread,” used on round or oval loaves, and on rolls.
Scoring pain fendu with a rolling pin a
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scaled at more than a couple of pounds). Keep the 2 loaves separated by a few inches, so that during the pinning motion they do not join in the center. This technique will work for round loaves and rolls, but not for oval loaves, which are too long to allow work-ing on two simultaneously.