A comment about my scoring depth changed everything

Last Tuesday a guy in the baking class said my loaves looked like they were holding back, that I scored way too shallow. So I tried cutting almost a half inch deep on my next batch of sourdough, and the oven spring was wild, like triple what I got before. It felt risky at first because I was scared of deflating the dough, but the crust opened up so much prettier. Has anyone else had a single tip like that just flip their whole routine?

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1 Comment

oscarmurray15d ago

So did you actually feel the dough give way when you cut that deep, or did it just slide through clean? I'm curious because I've been scared to go past a quarter inch myself, I always think I'm gonna hit a bubble and watch the whole thing collapse. But if the spring was that crazy, maybe I'm leaving a ton of oven rise on the table. Also, how dry was your dough's skin when you scored it? I gotta know if that tip works on a wetter, stickier loaf or if it only pays off when you've got a nice firm surface.