Basics and Techniques: Scoring

Scoring or slashing is when you take a knife or scalpel and make an incision into a loaf. Scoring allows the loaf to bloom or rise fully. The incision releases a little bit of the gas inside, so the dough pushes up to fill the void and create an appealing shape. At Bourke Street Bakery, we don’t slash all of our loaves nor is it necessary to, especially those with a high water content. Some loaves are slashed before the final prove, allowing the loaf to prove into its slash long before it hits the oven.