How to score sourdough bread

What scoring actually does

When bread hits a hot oven, the dough puffs rapidly in the first few minutes as trapped gases expand and the yeast makes its final burst — the effect bakers call oven spring. All that expanding dough has to go somewhere. The crust is already setting on the outside, so if you haven't given the loaf a deliberate weak point, it will rupture wherever it can, often bursting out the side or bottom in an ugly blowout. A score is a controlled cut through the surface tension of the dough that tells the loaf exactly where to open. Done well, the loaf expands up and out along your cut, giving you both a taller loaf and the attractive opened crust that a good score produces. In other words, scoring is function first and decoration second.

The tools: a lame vs a knife or razor

You score with something very sharp and very thin. The classic tool is a lame (pronounced "lahm") — a handle that holds a standard razor blade, often curved slightly so it can cut at a shallow angle. A lame is cheap, the blade is replaceable, and the thin, flexible razor slices cleanly through sticky dough without dragging. Many sourdough kits, including the one in our sourdough proofing basket review, include a basic lame to get you started, and you can explore blade options in the sourdough toolsguide. If you don't have a lame, the best alternative is a fresh razor bladeor a very sharp thin knife — a serrated bread knife or a paring knife can work in a pinch, but a thick or dull blade drags and tears the surface instead of slicing it. The single most important quality in any scoring tool is that it's genuinely sharp; nothing else matters as much.

How to hold and angle the blade

Two things decide how a score behaves: the angle of the blade and the speed of your hand. For a basic straight cut, hold the blade nearly vertical (perpendicular to the loaf) and make a clean, decisive slice. To create an ear— that raised, curling flap of crust — hold the blade at a shallow angle, roughly 30 to 45 degreesto the surface, so you cut a flap rather than a straight trench. As the loaf springs, that flap lifts and crisps into an ear. Whichever you're after, move in one confident, continuous motion. Hesitation is what causes dragging: a slow, tentative pass lets the sticky dough grab the blade, while a quick decisive stroke slices clean. Score just before the loaf goes in the oven, work fast, and commit to the cut.

Basic patterns to start with

You can score bread into elaborate wheat-stalk and leaf designs, but every one of them is built from simple cuts. Start with these three and you'll cover most loaves.

The single slash

The easiest and most reliable score, and the one to learn first. On an oval batard, make one long, slightly off-center slash running most of the length of the loaf, holding the blade at a shallow angle to lift an ear. On a round boule, a single curved or straight slash across the top works the same way. One good slash gives the loaf a clear place to open and is far better than several timid ones.

The ear

The ear isn't a separate pattern so much as the result of angling a slash correctly. Cut a single slash at that shallow 30-to-45-degree angle so the blade lifts a flap of skin along one side of the cut. In the oven that flap peels back and sets into a crisp raised lip. A pronounced ear is the classic sign of a well-scored, well-sprung loaf, and it comes from angle and confidence rather than any fancy pattern.

The cross and decorative scoring

For a round loaf, a simple cross(two slashes forming a plus or an X) or a square is a classic, forgiving pattern that opens the loaf evenly in four directions — a good next step after the single slash. Once you're comfortable, decorative scoring — wheat stalks, leaves and geometric designs — is mostly a set of shallow surface cuts made alongside one deeper "expansion" cut that actually controls the spring. Learn the functional cut first; the art comes easily once the loaf reliably opens where you tell it to.

Depth, confidence and speed

Depth is where beginners most often go wrong — and they nearly always go too shallow. A functional expansion cut wants to be about a quarter to half an inch deep, deep enough to actually breach the surface tension and give the loaf a real place to open, not a faint scratch that seals over in seconds. Decorative surface cuts are shallower, but the main cut needs commitment. Combine that depth with speed: one quick, confident pass cuts clean, while a slow, timid one drags and closes up. If your scores keep sealing over or the loaf blows out the side anyway, you're almost certainly cutting too shallow or too slowly. Be bolder than feels natural — it's the most common fix.

Common mistakes

A handful of problems account for most scoring frustration. A dull blade dragsand tears the surface instead of slicing it — replace razor blades often, they're cheap. Dough that's too warm or too wet is sticky and hard to score cleanly, which is why bakers cold-retard dough in the fridge and score it straight from the cold: firmer, colder dough takes a clean cut far more easily than warm, slack dough. Scoring too shallow or too timidly gives the loaf no real place to open, so it bursts elsewhere. And over-proofed dough— dough that's risen too far — is slack and gassy and won't hold a crisp score or spring well no matter how you cut it, so good scoring starts with a well-proofed loaf. Cold dough, a fresh blade, a confident deep cut: fix those three and most scoring problems disappear.

Set yourself up before you cut

Great scoring is partly a setup job. Proof and shape the loaf well, then cold-retard it in the fridge so the surface is firm and easy to cut — scoring straight from the cold is one of the simplest ways to get a clean line and a dramatic ear. Have everything ready before you score: the oven fully preheated, your blade fresh, and the loaf turned out (usually from a proofing basket) onto parchment or a peel so you can cut and load it fast. If you're proofing in a rattan banneton, keeping it seasoned and floured so the dough releases without deflating is part of the same chain — our guide to seasoning a banneton covers that. Finally, judge doneness by internal temperature rather than color; a bread thermometer tells you a scored loaf is baked through even when the crust looks dark from a good open spring.