Which breads require slashing? Which don't?

[KEmerson]

I know that some breads require slashing. I know that some breads don't. How to know which is which if there's no indication in the recipe? What are the criteria for deciding which breads will require slashing? I know that panned breads do not require slashing but even though I do some panned (pullman) loaves a lot of what I do aren't. Generally, I can find out whether to slash if it says so in the recipe. But after a while some recipes become a bit automatic (and I no longer really look at them, just have my own transcribed notes) and sometimes that one little note is left out.

Also, if a bread does not necessarily require slashing, will it matter if I do anyway?
thanks

[SableSprings]

Here's a link to a really good explanation/discussion of scoring bread that was posted a few years back on The Fresh Loaf site.

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/318...dated-tutorial

Basically, the scoring has three purposes IMHO, 1) provide a weakened line through gluten structure which allows the baker to direct/control the oven spring/bloom during a bake and 2) make a loaf conform to a "style form" of a bread type...think defined scoring on a baguette and 3) if you're baking in a community oven situation or with several externally similar/internally different breads, the score can be your identifying signature on the loaf . For example, if you have a whole wheat with spelt and another with another grain additive, a different score on each makes telling them apart very easy. As a side note, I've had a senior moment and slashed my pugliese by mistake, but I was the only one who noticed...bread tasted the same and everyone else focused on the taste not the correct form So, If you don't score your 400 g baguette with the "required 5 or 7 slashes and someone calls you on the technicality of weight and scores... call it an American baguette - and think twice about giving them a loaf next bake.

Remember it's your bread and experimentation is the path to improvement & understanding of what works best for you. Relax and define your own variations on formulas and final loaf appearance. If you go commercial, you might feel obligated to limit variation when naming a loaf...but where's the fun in that?

[KEmerson]

I had already run across that video. Found it very interesting. But my question is more along the lines of identifying whether there are breads which must be slashed or breads which must not. For the success of the product, not for appearance.

Is there a recipe distinction which implies slashing is required for bread success? I know what happens if a bread needs slashing but doesn't get it. But what about a bread which does not specify slashing in the recipe but I slash it anyway? Is there any way for me to read a recipe for the first time and, with no mention of slashing, know for certain that I should or should not slash? Is there anything in a recipe that means slashing is necessary? Hydration %? Levain or commercial yeast only? Or is it just a matter of what happens when I do not slash when I should, vs slashing everything? If I slash everything will it matter to the final product?

Part of what got me wondering is Dan Leader's "Local Breads" Pane di Genzano. I have been making this one for a few years now and it's a huge favorite. There is no mention of slashing in the Genzano recipe but the photo shows there was some slashing. Before noticing that I wondered what could go wrong if I slashed a loaf that didn't ask for it. I'm concluding that it wouldn't matter at all. I am concluding that I could slash every bread I ever make for all it matters. The troubles arise when I do not slash. Not when I do. I think. So, in an attempt to answer my own question, I am beginning to think, no, there is no specific direction in any recipe which will alert me that the bread in question will need slashing. If I choose to slash and do it well I'll have a good looking bread. If I don't slash I run a risk of a blow-out. But why will the Genzano not blow out without slashing but the sourdough is almost guaranteed to blow out every time when I don't slash? How can I know from reading the recipe? How can I know, "you better slash this one" or "you can get away without slashing if you wish - or forget."

Next is the long haul toward mastering the slash. Van Gough used a knife or razor to lose an ear. Bakers use a razor or a knife to create ears.
Thanks
Kim

[SableSprings]

...So, in an attempt to answer my own question, I am beginning to think, no, there is no specific direction in any recipe which will alert me that the bread in question will need slashing. If I choose to slash and do it well I'll have a good looking bread. If I don't slash I run a risk of a blow-out. But why will the Genzano not blow out without slashing but the sourdough is almost guaranteed to blow out every time when I don't slash? How can I know from reading the recipe? How can I know, "you better slash this one" or "you can get away without slashing if you wish - or forget."

There are definitely breads that have or do not have scoring. Tender/enriched dough and dough with higher hydration levels seem to do be scored less frequently. Obviously a Brioche or Challah would never be scored...but for form, not flavor. Baguettes require scoring by definition/convention not for flavor, but for the creation of the ears and "look" they develop with the oven spring. If I am creating a particular bread, I do pay attention to if it is scored or not. But if I don't see a good picture or I see them both scored and not scored, I try it both ways and see which way works best in my oven and with my prep methods.

I have never seen a overall principal or formula "ingredient range" that will dictate a requirement to score or not to score. You can take baguette dough and 1) shape and score it as a baguette or 2) shape as a longer baguette and cut into sections to create an Epi loaf, 3) shape as a baguette and scroll the loaf into an "S" shape to create a Scroll loaf - no scoring, or 4) flatten the dough and cut strips for bread sticks. All the same dough, but some flavors are developed differently by the crust to crumb ratio. Even in Peter Reinhart's classic The Bread Baker's Apprentice, when making Pain a l'Ancienne baguettes he notes "You may also omit the cuts if the dough isn't cooperating." In that same book (pg 91) he says about scoring "So, while there are conventions and protocols in the traditional European systems, there are really no rules other that what will serve the beauty and functionality of the bread best."

"How can I know from reading the recipe?" you asked ...as you are figuring out...I've never seen a "magic rule of scoring" that will apply to all situations. I don't think your Pane di Genzano will taste much different with or without scoring. When scored it may dry out a bit more during the bake or the increased ratio of crust to crumb may change how you "taste it"...but that's your preference and the loaf (or palate) police are not going to come and haul you away. Relax, every loaf is basically an experiment on how you can improve/perfect your bakes.

As a note on blow-outs, if you place your loaves too close together you will likely get a blow-out on one or both. This is primarily because if the loaves are too close, the developing crust in a loaf will have a weak spot there due to increased humidity in that zone...and the oven spring will push to that spot creating the blow-out. I notice that with the sourdough's longer rise (and consequent drying of the dough loaf), if I don't score the loaf it will sometimes blow-out along the lower edge where the dough is a bit more moist...never elsewhere. The Genzano (mine at least) is about 75% hydration and the loaf has enough moisture to keep the crust from setting before the loaf is fully expanded during oven spring. The Pain a l'Ancienne in Reinhart's book runs about 79% hydration...so blow-outs are uncommon, and still taste fabulous even if they are viewed by some as "ugly"

Sorry Kim, I didn't mean to make this such a long-winded response/diatribe...but basically (IMHO) bread is a mixture of science and magic, so relax and keep the butter near.

p.s. I suspect nobody throws mis-scored loaves away

[KEmerson]

Not long-winded at all. I needed to know all of what you said. Thank you. You described perfectly the times my sourdough blew out - at the bottom or when close to another. My oven is 42" and I can get 15 or so boules or batards in there. So some do get a little cozy with one another at times. And yes, that's right where the blow-out occurs.
Thanks for a wonderful and dearly needed information.
Kim

[JRPizza]

I have noticed that if my bread is under proofed, and possibly under fermented, it tends to blow out or at least has much more oven spring. I made some bread yesterday and my times were a little long on both fermenting and proofing, and I had kind of slack spring. I have gone short on both times and had blow out even though I did a double slash on the loaves. For my particular starter, a 3 hour ferment and a 2 hour proof seems to give me the best amount of spring.