What are you using to score your bread?

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Lucretia

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Like a nincompoop, I've been using a razor blade to score my bread loaves when it gives me a perfectly good excuse to get a new knife. But what would be the best tool for the job? There are lots of places that have cheap plastic lames, and I've seen a video of a baker making some beautiful cuts with a Victorinox baker's knife. What works best for you? (Confession time--in the deep, dark recesses of my heart, I fantasize about getting a Carter neck knife for the job.)
 
I use a petty, though any of my kitchen knives would be sharp enough. From my observations it seems to make much cleaner cuts than anything I have ever seen a baker use. I really want to get a kogatana for slashing bread and such.
 
Lame Bread Slashing Tool

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Box cutter. What my chef taught. Disposable blade. Works better in the long run over my knives. Before that, my petty.

-AJ
 
i use my Robert Herder sheeps foot paring knife. works amazingly.
 
Interesting. At first I was going to joke that I use a Moritaka with an overgrind, but in reality I am embarrassed to say that I have never thought about it.

....but now I am thinking about it.

k.
 
very thin petty I have. But most sharpened to our level on here will do.
 
Damn you need to really be making a lot of bread to have an excuse for a special knife for the task Lucretia.

The few times I do it, I just use a petty or my small gyuto. Cant you use your bb for the task?
 
Damn you need to really be making a lot of bread to have an excuse for a special knife for the task Lucretia.

The few times I do it, I just use a petty or my small gyuto. Cant you use your bb for the task?

Make enough bread to have destroyed a few KitchenAid mixers before changing over to Electrolux. (The KAs aren't really too good for dough, actually. And yes, they were operated within spec. They just don't handle dough well enough.) BB is too long for the job. Actually toying with the idea of selling it. A great knife--too nice to only pull out occasionally. May want to replace it with one that's more general-purpose so there's more opportunity to use & enjoy it.

Son, I've been wondering about getting a straight razor. I like the way a razor blade cuts, but they're kinda tricky to wash. :( And I like the idea of somthing that's not going to the landfill after a few uses, so the plastic fixed blade lame is also out.
 
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Victorinox serrated pairing knife...Have used razor on occasion but prefer the victorinox
 
Make enough bread to have destroyed a few KitchenAid mixers before changing over to Electrolux. (The KAs aren't really too good for dough, actually. And yes, they were operated within spec. They just don't handle dough well enough.) BB is too long for the job. Actually toying with the idea of selling it. A great knife--too nice to only pull out occasionally. May want to replace it with one that's more general-purpose so there's more opportunity to use & enjoy it.

Son, I've been wondering about getting a straight razor. I like the way a razor blade cuts, but they're kinda tricky to wash. :( And I like the idea of somthing that's not going to the landfill after a few uses, so the plastic fixed blade lame is also out.
hold off on the razor, I got something in the pipeline. Relax and let chef handle things.
 
Like a nincompoop, I've been using a razor blade to score my bread loaves when it gives me a perfectly good excuse to get a new knife. But what would be the best tool for the job? There are lots of places that have cheap plastic lames, and I've seen a video of a baker making some beautiful cuts with a Victorinox baker's knife. What works best for you? (Confession time--in the deep, dark recesses of my heart, I fantasize about getting a Carter neck knife for the job.)

That's what I use, a Carter Neck Knife. I'm never in the kitchen without it.

Cheers,

Jack
 
Make enough bread to have destroyed a few KitchenAid mixers before changing over to Electrolux. (The KAs aren't really too good for dough, actually. And yes, they were operated within spec. They just don't handle dough well enough.)
I thought that was just me. I had one KA pro 600 where the drive shaft snapped clean in half, literally. That was after about 4 months of use, KA told me to piss off on the warranty so thank goodness for BedBathBeyond's return policy. The KA just makes cookies now. I've been using a Bosch happily now for 4 years, mixing double the batch size I was doing in the KA.

The green lame is poor, and really shouldn't be sold.

Amen to that. I use a box knife

The thought of using a serrated knife makes me shudder a bit. Ripping proofed dough often doesn't work out well for me.
 
I thought that was just me. I had one KA pro 600 where the drive shaft snapped clean in half, literally. That was after about 4 months of use, KA told me to piss off on the warranty so thank goodness for BedBathBeyond's return policy. The KA just makes cookies now. I've been using a Bosch happily now for 4 years, mixing double the batch size I was doing in the KA.

Not just you. There are a lot of KA haters on bread forums. My first KA was a five-quart model that jumped off the kitchen counter while mixing dough. The tile survived, the mixer didn't. Got the Pro 600--it didn't walk like the smaller model, but the motor burned up. KA replaced it under warranty. The replacement lasted a few months before the gears stripped. It's sitting in a closet waiting for me to order parts.

Almost got the Bosch--it gets great reviews, too. Loving my Electrolux.
 
Lol...this in going to be an expensive thread. First it never occurred to me to have a dedicated blade for the task.....my little razor blade won't cut it now. AND you reminded me how much I dislike my KA mixer....

:beatinghead:
 
Just mixed up a batch of rolls--9 cups of grain/bread flour, about 4 1/2 lbs--that would have killed my KA. The assistent didn't even break a sweat. No overheating, no motor shutoff. Really quiet, and it's easier to move around than the KA, too. Looks like someone other than electrolux is making them now--and they've jumped in price. :(
 
OK, we all know that Son is pretty amazing. Here's another example. I was musing over something to score bread with, and this little beauty arrives in the mail:



Son1.jpg

Son2.jpg

Can you believe it's over 110 years old? Amboyna scales, and looks like it's never been used.

Haven't made a batch of our "regular" bread to try it on yet, but made some rolls with EXTREMELY sticky dough and had to try it--and it shows a lot of promise. Hope to make my regular, less sticky bread later this week and give it a go. SO much nicer than a bare razor blade. And I can use it on my old lady mustache, too! :scared4:


THANK YOU, SON!!!!

:thanx:
 
Beautiful!

Thankfully I don't make enough bread to kill my Pro 600, and if I'm not mistaken it's the one with the redesigned gearbox [fingers crossed]. For scoring I use a Mure et Peyrot bordelaise lame and the cheapest double-edge stainless razor blades I can find on Amazon -- Dorco Platinums at about 8¢ each in a 100-pack. The M&P lame allows a slight curve, too. I find it works better than my sharpest knife for scoring loaves made from very wet dough (75-78%).
 
I use 180mm suji for the task, would never ever use a perfectly sahavable and restored razor for anything like that but that is just me. So DE razor blade does not work well?
 
They work fine on sticky or no-knead doughs -- with enough "lube" (flour or water) -- and work exactly like they are supposed to work on regular, stiffer doughs. The Mure et Peyrot is one of the few DE holders that allows some curvature of the blade.

 
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Oh, and FWIW a DE blade with a bamboo skewer threaded into it works just as well, and costs 1/200 the price. :)
 
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