i’m not sure what I am doing wrong. I do angle my (now razor blade ; used to be a bread knife) to be at a 45° angle and I always try to do a 7 to 10 minute rescore after it’s been in the oven. I have noticed when I try and restore it after it has been in the oven it’s super difficult to make another punctuation and it doesn’t slice very evenly. So you can see the ones where it’s been successful because a small ear forms, but for the remaining ones I didn’t do the seven minute score. I have a hydration that is around 68% and I also do four sets of stretch and folds every 30 minutes with each stretch and fold. I do a total of 8 stretches each time . I also have been doing extra gluten development upfront so when I mix my dough and after my autolyse for my salt, I knead it for about 10 minutes. I definitely don’t think I have nailed my bulk fermentation time but I’m just wondering why I cannot get a consistent scoring pattern. It seems like a surface level score. last picture is probably the best loaf I’ve made with the deepest score that produced a slight ear.
by _prettygirlrock
30 Comments
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Why do you want that?
https://preview.redd.it/skxdnezcdosf1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e0bf509c8ea111db7effa2597eb65321cecc3767
Recent loaf that had another surface level score
https://preview.redd.it/gyneyrthdosf1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ecaa9057bc7973b82c1c9d93073452698e313566
Crumb shot
Oh boy that second pic
Hello, I’ve found that to get an ear I need my oven AND my dutch oven to be pre-heated very well. If it’s not warm enough, the dough rises slowly whereas when it’s properly warm, the dough rises so fast that it spreads and makes an ear.
It could also be a proofing problem, or because your starter isn’t very strong, but heat is definitely an essential and often underappreciated factor.
Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe If you’re serious, I’m sorry. That second pic though. 😅
Almost as if you cut it in half. It needs to have tention.
This does look like a score that’s too perpendicular to the loaf (first loaf), (use less angle) and too deep. Also, try scoring not down the middle, but slightly off center. The bread and crumb look great so I honestly thing it’s scoring. I worked for years in a sourdough bakery and scoring high hydration doughs is very persnickety when you want something really specific in terms of a look. When I bake at home I care less about a perfect looking ear than I do about an ear that gives me the lift I want. Also try not scoring a second time? Try a one and done. Truly though, this is nice looking bread so be proud and happy eating!
That second one looks fantastic- wouldn’t change a thing! 😉
Try a seven minute score? Basically pop your dough into the Dutch oven and bake for 5-7 minutes then take out of the oven score and return. The 5-7 minutes helps the dough set a bit and the score makes it even weaker relative to the rest of the dough increasing likelihood of ear developmenf
Assuming your gluten is good, you have to build more surface tension when doing your final shaping. Look up grant bakes easy sour dough recipe YouTube video. Great simple recipe that I still reference if it’s been a while since I last baked.
You need to score at an angle instead of just cutting straight through. Thanks for the jump scare on the second slide haha.
Why aim for an ear if you can have an entire butt?
wet dough shaping is tricky for me, it makes for great crumb but difficulty getting the skin taught and preventing it from just flopping apart after scoring often yields this in my experience. have you tried chilling it once shaped (at least an hour or so) and then making sure the oven/vessel are ripping hot when dripping it in? score just at the last second, the structure from the cold and the shock of the heat is the only way I know to coax more bloom with higher hydration soft grain doughs
Where’s Howie Mandel when you need him
Hi. It’s the angle of the cut relative to the surface of the loaf, and not letting it dry out in the cut too early. For an ear your angle of cut needs to be about 45° to the surface.
A vertical cut spreads, a slanted cut curls up, and the thinnest part cooks out and shrinks first.
Happy baking
Edit:
Diagram of expansion cuts
https://www.reddit.com/r/Sourdough/s/b6cI3IcNvD
Too deep a cut that. And you need to do it at an angle. 📐 25-30
Your objective is to cut a flap & not a slot.
Don’t cut straight into the loaf. Angle your blade so it cuts slightly under one side of your slice to make a lip.
It shouldn’t open up like that when scored, which is telling me your dough is too weak. There needs to be proper structure and tension to form an ear.
Which could be several things but for me it’s either been that my stretch and fold window went too long (must keep within two hours, and 8 each time is a lot, try only 3-4… it is possible to overwork sourdough and break the gluten) or it hasn’t proofed long enough (I like to do overnight in fridge in wood pulp banneton for a nice dry surface)
And like others have said, more shallow score at an angle.
Cut under your first slit. Cut straight down then take your blade and turn it SIDEWAYS cut under the slit and make a lip.
You didnt get an ear, you got an ass
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKl4Tt7u7Lp/?igsh=MTVhcWdtcnBndHZyNQ==
Dough tension needed and score at an angle.
Another idea is to dry out the dough surface a bit so that a skin forms. This with the above suggestions should encourage an ear to form.
Butt, I do like them buns shown 😀
As many have already said, my quick simple answer is you cut waaaaaay too deep. You should only be cutting just barely into the surface, it’ll open up a lot more on its own. The ear comes from having some tension on the crust as the bread bakes and rises. If you score too deep like that there’s no tension and it just falls flat.
Try more like 30 degrees instead of 45. You damn near want to be parallel. Took me forever to get a good ear too until I did that. Then I realized it is entirely aesthetics and if anything I don’t like how hard it gets lol
Curious why no one has mentioned the possibility of over fermentation – this always leads to no ear for me, even if my crumb still looks ok.
Also go at an angle, and kinda keep it thin. Might help it curl over. Like you’re cutting a page off of it
My score would “heal” because my oven was too hot. I preheat at 500°, add 4 ice cubes to DO then reduce heat to 450°, reduce to 425° after I remove the lid
’ears’ are over-rated and not a necessary component of successful bread baking. They are a component of social-network bread brag photos (which is not a crucial component of bread baking). ‘Ears’ are (unnecessarily) responsible for stress, anxiety and frustration for some bread bakers.
Focus on process, introducing new whole grain flours, additions, etc. mix batch, shape, bake and Share your batches with family, friends, neighbors and others. Note the delighted looks on their faces as they taste something that has become unique in our modern, mass produced food world: fresh bread! Smiles are 100 times more important than bread ears.
oh and then repeat the process again… and again