How to Score Your Dough to Maximise Oven Spring & Get an Amazing Ear on Your Sourdough Bread

In this video, I'll run you through the technique I use to functionally score my sourdough batards.
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Chapters
0:00 What's Covered
1:13 Quick Guide
2:00 Dough Temperature & Hydration
3:09 Choosing a Lame / Razor Blade
4:03 The Angle of the Blade
4:52 Straight or Curved Cut?
5:25 Depth of the Cut
6:35 Overview & Re-Cap
#sourdoughscoring
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[@pyroarch57]

This site is the best! Thanks Philip.

[@jeffharmon9410]

Excellent video. Thank you

[@genacook9955]

Hello again from North Carolina.. Thanks for sharing your expertise with us! Beautiful bread and you're such an inspiration

[@CulinaryExploration]

Hey Gina, cheers for the feedback!

[@AaronBouvier]

Helpful, thank you 🙏

[@sevillavieira]

Best baking bread channel ever, Thanks. And Congrats!

[@CulinaryExploration]

Cheers buddy, much appreciated :)

[@Ernestmpacheco.]

What a beautiful lighting job

[@CulinaryExploration]

Cheers 👍

[@juliawheeler8973]

Hello from California, thank you so much for your videos! You make the best sourdough breads and now I do too lol 😊

[@CulinaryExploration]

Hey Julia, I'm pleased you are making some decent loaves! Enjoy the journey :)

[@IBakeBread]

Great baker! Best spring I ever seen!

[@CulinaryExploration]

Cheers Gaya

[@Fermerswife]

Thank you I just couldn't get my scoring right. Held the lame at the blade not the handle and it's def my best looking loaf!

[@amyvaughan4749]

So helpful!!!

[@cachi-7878]

Beautiful loaves, Phil. Always top shelf. Cheers!

[@CulinaryExploration]

Cheers Cachi, hope all is well with you bud

[@iliapetrovic3582]

Thank you for another great video. I’m using a razor blade attached to a chop stick. It’s probably about time I’ve bought a proper lame 😀

[@CulinaryExploration]

LOL - Nice hack!

[@sher1772]

🥰Thank you!

[@Alex-ck4in]

What hydration are you loaves generally? You have the best spring of any sourdough creators on the platform IMO! 💯

[@CulinaryExploration]

Cheers Alex. For a boreal everyday sourdough loaf, I use 70%-85% depending on which flour / combination I use.

[@shsh3134]

This was great! Thanks for the video!

[@ms.q7445]

My last loaf came out with four or five ears-two where I scored and a couple small ones around the sides.

[@waynebar1]

What is the best way to check if your fermentation is correct, where I am in Australia it can get really hot and humid even though we run an air conditioner, I am having trouble with the loaf holding firm after the night in the refrigerator and it can spread out a bit when I tip it out of the baniton cheers Wayne

[@marite973]

Super bread ,hello from Barcelona

[@CulinaryExploration]

Hey from Athens, Greece Mariana!

[@user-wr1oc4yt3r]

Hello…what kind of lame is that which seems to have a magnetic case?

[@alexandersalamon7242]

Unfortunately I am struggling with proper oven spring. Your bred looks amazing and spot on every single time!!! I live in California and can’t find the right flour. Same flour from the same mill very a lot, depending on the batch.

[@lbamusic]

I highly recommend King Arthur Bread flour

[@francinekeane9900]

Thanks for great video Phil, good luck with renos. I always make sandwich loaf in a tin so find it really hard to get that 40 degree angle, any suggestions?

[@CulinaryExploration]

Hey Francine, you don't need to worry about scoring on an angle with sandwich loaves. I like to score at 90 degrees so that each side of the loaf opens up symmetrically. I'll try and cover this in a future video but you can check out @bakewithjack YT channel, he's got some great content on sandwich loaves.

[@meisievannancy]

Well described. 5mm is at least a number I understand .

[@PanDoniczka2021]

Once in the fridge the bread is covered and once the bread in the fridge in your other video is uncovered. Does it matter today?

[@justinerogers1353]

Have you any thoughts on opening the oven door part-way through baking? I have been tempted to re-score when the loaves have started to crust over and I've opened the cut again but I wonder if it's bad form to open the door letting the steam out and the temperature drop. Thank you.

[@cinhawkes]

If you put a piece of parchment paper or foil loosely over the top, it will slow down the browning.

[@bobadler7256]

Do you ever use a stiff starter? If so, when and why? Advantages/disadvantages of stiff vs. 100% hydration (starter)? Thank you

[@tommasoragghianti7735]

I'm not an expert but here in Italy stiff starters are much more common (I suspect that we used to use the leftover dough from the previous day). From what I've seen, a stiff starter is harder to manage and maintain, we have a technique that's called "bagnetto" (tr: little bath) which involves putting your dough in hot water. I don't know exactly what it's for, again I'm not an expert, but the 100% hydration one is just much easier to maintain

[@justinerogers1353]

Long Stanley knife blade for me.

[@olusialovesgod9724]

Hello there! What kind of oven do you have there? I see a stone inside? I have a convection oven would I be able to place a stone inside to bake my sourdough loaves on and do what you did here? If so what kind or maybe something else?

[@CulinaryExploration]

Yes, for sure. You could use a baking stone or a baking steel. Both will work well 👍

[@user-wr1oc4yt3r]

Hello, i noted that you indicated that it was easier to score on a cold dough. May i ask that, after you score a cold dough, do you need to let the dough come to room temp? Thank you in advance for any advice that you can offer!

[@srslymorgan]

No. You want the dough to be as cold as possible, which is what aids in creating steam (and the oven spring) once it contacts the hot surface (Dutch oven, pan, baking stone, etc.)

[@sarawaldner4729]

I always cold proof but my blade always snags on the dough… why is that?

[@lisae6725]

I had no trouble with my scoring until the last several loaves and I don’t get why. I think I started over thinking. I just watched a beautiful chilled loaf turn in to a pancake as soon as I scored it which I must have done too deeply. Very irritating. I’ve been baking Sourdough for only a few months now so I have a lot to learn.

[@arnoldkotlyarevsky383]

I have a potentially stupid question. If you are putting cold dough in the oven, how does that affect your bake time as compared to dough that has been proofing on the counter for a shorter length of time?

[@dylanjfrank28]

In my experience, it helps it hold the shape during oven spring. Instead of spreading out it plumps up. Shouldn't change your bake time too too much but always bake for color over time

[@GinoMSI]

without subtitle😅 ! thanks for the video.

[@CulinaryExploration]

Cheers Gino

[@Just_Enni]

❤

[@Simplycomfortfood]

I find if I mist the loaf lightly with water that too will help the blade from sticking.

[@CulinaryExploration]

Hey Blair, how's the sourdough baking going? Have you been turning out some of those awesome sandwich loaves recently?

[@marijanaguzvic8797]

​@@CulinaryExploration

[@jesuslopez-co4pe]

😊👍🏻

[@shirleycovey7309]

I see you have two grain mills and I've not seen you grind your wheat berries. ??

[@CulinaryExploration]

Hi Shirley, I do use the mills but I'm still playing around with them at the moment. It's been tricky finding decent grains where I live but there will be content coming very soon!

[@cgirl111]

Scoring originated as a method of identifying your loaf when using the community oven.

[@boscobear123]

I know it could be a multitude of reasons, but man I can’t get my load to keep the shape of my Benatton after I flip. It’s such a shame

[@CulinaryExploration]

Hey John, you are right, it could be a few reasons. Have you tried using different strong flour and reducing the hydration a touch?

[@boscobear123]

@@CulinaryExploration , I use King Arthur AP 11.7% religiously. Sometimes I’ll sub in a percentage of an ancient grain. I’ll dial back hydration my next loaf for sure and let you know. Thanks bubbs!!!

[@Alex-ck4in]

Also difficult for me - my boules and batards nearly always sag significantly when scoring! At the same time, they can still spring in this state, just slightly less stood-up! For ref: Im on Marriage's Strong White (13.7%), generally do 70% hydration, at a high-latitude mild climate

[@iliapetrovic3582]

Hi John, I don’t have Phil’s experience, but I’ve had the same problems that you’re having. I dialled back the hydration to around 65%, I make sure the ovens at the right temperature with an oven thermometer and my next loaf improved, you can up the hydration once you get a feel for it. You also mentioned that you use ancient grains, if it’s spelt, the spelt part will need less hydration. I hope this helps. Ilia

[@ReisigSeeds]

I have never had luck with proofing in the fridge. I always lose my spring when I do that.

[@CulinaryExploration]

Hey Heather. Sounds like it may be over-proofing. If you are proofing the dough in the basket at room temperature before popping it in the fridge then you could try to reduce the room temp part of the proof.

[@mayanchild]

Yea yea cut a curve in dough...not rocket science.

[@frankfurter7260]

I like the channel but why do you sound like Harry Potter? Can you please speak normally.