One of the trickiest things with bread baking can be figuring out how to score sourdough bread. Instagram and Pinterest are full of beautifully scored sourdough loaves with amazing designs, but sometimes it can feel hard to achieve that in your own kitchen! 

Here I’ll try to break down the ins and outs of scoring bread. We’ll look at why people score bread in the first place? What tools should you use to score sourdough? How deep and at what angle should you score your dough? And much more!

Hopefully this is helpful, but at the end of the day, the best way to learn is to get out there and practice!

What is the purpose of scoring bread?

Scoring helps your bread rise in the right way. You’re giving your dough an opening to expand into, so it opens where you’ve sliced the bread instead of just splitting randomly.

Scoring can also make your bread look more attractive! Once you get the hang of the basic scoring techniques, you can delve into more advanced techniques and get creative with your scoring!

What happens if you don’t score bread?

If you don’t score your bread, you might find that it will split open randomly and bulge instead of staying in the correct shape. Skipping the scoring step can also prevent oven spring and make it more difficult for your bread dough to rise!

How to score sourdough bread?

There’s a ton of different techniques that you can use to score bread, and you can get really creative with your approach! In general, though, you want to use a very sharp knife to quickly cut the surface of your dough.

Your cuts can either be perpendicular to the surface of the dough if you want to create a pattern, or at an angle if you want to create an ear. 

What is a lame knife? 

Professional bakers use a knife called a lame* (not the exact one I use, but very similar), which is basically a very sharp razor blade attached to a handle.

The sharpness and thinness of the blade makes it ideal for slashing quickly through the surface of your dough. Lames aren’t too expensive and in my opinion make it much easier to get great results when you’re scoring dough!

How to get a nice ear on your bread?

One of the most popular scores to make on your bread is known as an ear.  This happens when you score the dough at an angle such that when it rises, the top layer peels up to create a piece that sticks out like an ear. Or mildly like an ear…

It’s important to work quickly when slicing an ear and, ideally, you want to make the entire cut in one go. Start at one end and slice, at an angle, from the top of the loaf to the bottom. People often do this on a slight arc as well, see the video for an example of this technique!

How deep to score bread ?

If you want to create an ear you should aim for a cut that’s about 1/2 an inch to an inch deep. The best way to achieve this is by using firm pressure on your lame and moving quickly as you slice. 

Other ways to improve your scoring

There are a few other things to keep in mind if you want a perfectly scored loaf! 

First off you need a well shaped loaf. 

This means that you should be creating surface tension on your loaf while shaping it. That surface tension will mean that when you go to score, you’ll be able to cleanly slice through the surface. A loose dough is difficult to score as the blade tends to get stuck instead of slicing cleanly through!

For more shaping tips, take a look at my sourdough recipe.

You also need to bake your bread correctly.

For the scoring to take effect, you want the dough to rise quickly and dramatically with what’s known as “oven spring”. To get this effect, you should bake in a properly heated oven. I.e. let your oven preheat for a full half hour. You’ll also want to either add steam to the oven or bake in a Dutch Oven!

And finally when you’re scoring I’d recommend you start simple and practice frequently! You’ll have a beautiful loaf before you know it.

Scoring patterns

Other than the classic ear, there are tons of other patterns you can go for. Personally, I like the leaf like pattern shown in the video! It’s relatively simple and looks lovely.

If you want to try it, just make sure to keep your blade perpendicular to the surface of the dough instead of at an angle and make quick slices. This approach looks particularly good on floured dough because you get a contrast between the dough and the flour!

There are plenty of amazing scoring examples out there, so do a quick google search and find something interesting to try! Here’s one example from Bread Journey that gives some great scoring patterns.

How to Score Sourdough Bread Without a Lame

If you don’t have a lame don’t worry! There are other options! One option is to use scissors to make cuts on the surface of the dough. You can also use a serrated knife. Or, ideally a combination of both!

Scoring bread with scissors

Scissors don’t work particularly well if you want to create that ear effect because it’s not easy to make a long slice. Instead, use the scissors to cut multiple slashes into the dough in whatever pattern you like. Hold your scissors at a slight angle and make sure the surface of the dough is lightly floured. 

You’ll find you don’t get a dramatic ear, but you can still create patterns and prevent the dough from splitting along the sides.

Scoring bread with a knife

A bread knife or a good serrated knife can also work well if you have one on hand. A serrated knife, unlike scissors, is ideal for this long cuts. Just hold the long blade against the dough in a quick motion, press the knife down, and then pull the knife towards you to slice into the surface.

As with the lame, you want to do this in one quick motion instead of sawing back and forth. You’ll also get a better ear if you slice at an angle with your knife instead of perpendicular to the surface.

If you want, you can combine a serrated knife to create the ear and scissors to create a decorative pattern!

Thank you and good luck scoring!

Hopefully this is helpful and if you have lingering scoring related questions, just drop them in the comments, and I’ll try to respond!