How to Score Sourdough: Getting the Ear

Scoring is the last thing you do before a loaf goes into the oven, and it is the most photogenic. Those elegant slashes are not just decoration — they tell the loaf where to expand. Do it well and you are rewarded with the ear: a crisp, raised flap of crust that lifts away from the loaf as it springs.

Why We Score at All

As a loaf hits the hot oven, the trapped gases expand rapidly and the dough surges upward. If the surface has no designated weak point, it will burst wherever it likes — often along the side in an ugly blowout. A score is a controlled release valve. You are choosing where the loaf opens so the expansion works for you rather than against you.

The Tool

You want a razor-sharp blade. A lame — a handle that holds a razor blade — is purpose-built for this, but a clean utility blade or a very sharp paring knife works too. Dull knives drag and tear the surface instead of slicing cleanly, and a torn score will never bloom into an ear.

Cold Dough Cuts Best

Score your dough straight from the fridge. Cold dough is firm, which means the blade glides through without deflating or sticking. Warm, slack dough grabs the blade and collapses. This is the single biggest reason bakers struggle with scoring, and the easiest to fix: proof cold, bake cold.

The Cut That Makes an Ear

For a classic ear, you want one long slash slightly off-center, with the blade held at a shallow angle — around 30 degrees to the surface rather than straight down. That angle creates a thin flap of dough. As the loaf springs in the oven, that flap peels back and crisps into the raised lip we call the ear.

Depth matters too. Aim for roughly one centimeter deep. Too shallow and the cut seals over before it can open; too deep and you deflate the loaf. One confident, continuous motion beats a timid, sawing stroke every time.

Decorative Versus Functional Scoring

Intricate wheat stalks and leaf patterns look beautiful, but they serve a different purpose. Those shallow surface cuts are decorative and will not drive expansion. If you want both, use one deep primary score to control the spring and add shallow decorative cuts around it. The deep cut does the work; the pretty ones come along for the ride.

Steam Seals the Deal

An ear cannot form in a dry oven. Steam keeps the crust soft and flexible during the first minutes of the bake, letting that scored flap lift and stretch before it sets. This is why a lidded Dutch oven works so well — it traps the loaf's own moisture. Without steam, the crust hardens instantly and pins the flap down.

Practice Beats Perfection

Your early scores may be crooked, shallow, or overworked. That is completely normal. Score with intention, note what happened when the loaf came out, and adjust one variable at a time. Within a dozen loaves, that confident single slash — and the ear it produces — will start to feel like second nature.

Common Scoring Mistakes

Most scoring problems come from just a few habits. Sawing back and forth instead of slicing in one pass tears the surface and kills the ear before it forms. Scoring warm, slack dough lets the blade drag and the cut collapse — proof cold and score cold. Pressing too hard drives the blade deep and deflates the loaf, while a timid, feather-light touch barely breaks the skin. A dull blade is the silent culprit behind many ragged scores; replace it far more often than feels necessary, because razors are cheap and a torn loaf is not. Finally, resist the urge to cover the surface in a dozen artistic slashes on your first attempts. One clean, confident cut teaches you more about oven spring than an elaborate pattern ever will. Master the single slash, watch how the loaf responds, and add flourishes only once the basics feel automatic.