How to Score Sourdough: Getting an Ear, and Why Yours Won't Open

Scoring is the last thirty seconds of a two-day process, and it's the part with the highest ratio of anxiety to difficulty. Here's what it's for, and the four variables that decide whether you get a dramatic ear or a loaf that tore open somewhere you didn't choose.

What scoring is actually doing

In the first ten minutes in the oven, the loaf expands hard — oven spring. That expansion has to escape somewhere. If you don't give it a route, it finds one: usually a ragged tear along the side or under the base.

Scoring is you choosing where that happens. It's a control decision, not a decoration. The decoration is a side effect.

The four variables

1. Angle — this is what makes an ear

Hold the blade at about 30 degrees to the surface, almost lying flat, not straight down. A shallow angle creates a flap of dough. As the loaf expands, that flap lifts and curls back — that curl is the ear.

Cut at 90 degrees and you get a canyon that opens outward instead of upward. Perfectly good bread, no ear. If you've been wondering why yours never lifts, this is almost certainly why.

2. Depth

About 5–10mm for the main cut. Too shallow and it seals over before the loaf finishes expanding, so it tears elsewhere. Too deep and the structure collapses and the loaf spreads flat.

Deeper than a centimetre is almost always a mistake.

3. Cold dough

This is the fix nobody mentions and it's the biggest single improvement available. Score straight out of the fridge after an overnight cold prove. Cold dough is firm, the blade glides, and the cut holds its shape.

Room-temperature dough drags, sticks to the blade and deforms as you cut. If scoring feels like a fight, the dough is too warm — not the blade too blunt.

4. Speed and commitment

One confident stroke. Hesitating mid-cut, or sawing back and forth, tears the surface instead of slicing it. Move faster than feels comfortable. A bad fast cut beats a careful slow one.

The blade

A razor blade, or a lame, which is a razor blade on a handle. A serrated bread knife works at a pinch but drags. A regular kitchen knife, however sharp, is too thick — it pushes the dough apart rather than parting it.

Curved blades exaggerate the ear because the curve naturally creates the flap. Straight blades give cleaner geometric patterns.

Blades are cheap and dull fast. Change it more often than you think.

Patterns worth knowing

The single slash. One long cut, slightly off-centre, running most of the length of the loaf, at 30 degrees. This is the one that produces the classic ear, and it's the one to master before anything else.

The cross. Two cuts on a round loaf. Even expansion, no dramatic ear, very forgiving.

The square. Four cuts forming a box on top of a round loaf. The centre rises like a dome. Looks expert, is easy.

Wheat stalks, leaves, and the rest. Beautiful, and here's the honest caveat: decorative scoring is many shallow cuts, which releases pressure everywhere and gives you a flatter loaf with less spring. Do it when the look is the point. Don't do it while you're still trying to fix your rise.

Common problems

The cut seals over and the loaf tears elsewhere. Too shallow, or underproved dough with too much spring for one cut to handle.

The loaf spreads sideways instead of up. Too deep, or overproved. If it's also sticky and slack, it's the dough, not the cut — see dense sourdough troubleshooting.

The blade drags. Dough too warm, or blade blunt. Chill it. Change the blade.

No ear despite everything. Check the angle again — it's flatter than most people think. And check you have steam in the oven for the first 15 minutes, because without it the crust sets before the ear can form.

The bit that takes longest

Confidence. Everyone scores tentatively for the first twenty loaves because the dough looks fragile and you've spent two days on it. It isn't fragile at that point, and a decisive cut is what it needs.

Photograph the cut before it goes in and the loaf after it comes out, with a note of the angle and depth. Six bakes of that and you'll have solved it — which is exactly the kind of thing a baking journal is for.

Questions we get asked

Why doesn't my sourdough get an ear?

Almost always the blade angle. You need about 30 degrees — nearly flat to the surface — to create the flap that curls back. A vertical cut opens outward instead. Cold dough and oven steam are the other two requirements.

How deep should I score?

Roughly 5–10mm. Shallower and it seals before expansion finishes; deeper and the loaf collapses outward.

Should I score cold or room-temperature dough?

Cold, straight from the fridge. The blade glides instead of dragging and the cut keeps its shape. It's the easiest improvement available.

Does decorative scoring affect the rise?

Yes — many shallow cuts release pressure across the whole surface, giving a flatter loaf with less spring. Use one decisive cut when you want height, patterns when you want the look.