Some people dip their razor blades
in water when they're about to slash they're loaf. Some people dip them in
flour but I don't do either of those things because there's something else more
powerful here at play, technique. Roll it! Hey Homebakers, confidence is what you need to
slash your bread dough smoothly and well and I've always said that in class because it's true.
Cautiously approaching your dough trembling with apprehension, sweating like a bomb disposal expert
that only gets one shot won't help you. Easier said than done, I know, so here's some practical
pointers. For the post puff slash, meaning the one that you make before your dough goes into
the oven, when it's already puffy and delicate you really need a grignette. This is the one from
the Bake with Jack shop and basically what it is, is a razor blade in the plastic handle. A knife
is just too clumsy and really if it's not super sharp, as sharp as a razor blade, it simply won't
do the trick. At this point in your bread making, when everything's puffy and everything's
a success, then you're going to put it in your oven you really don't want it to collapse
by slashing it with a blunt knife. These are sharp okay so be careful, hold your dough
at one end, the end furthest from you, the end you'll start your cut because you'll
be slashing away from your hand, not towards it. Hold the blade at a real shallow angle, so
most of the length of the blade is in contact with the dough surface. Visualize in your mind
where you're going to be starting your cut and where you're going to be ending your cut and slash
swiftly from your start point to your end point, away from your hand, in one consistent motion.
You've got to be confident about it and if you don't feel confident just pretend. The angle
here is the most important takeaway I feel, avoid using just the corner of the blade and use
as much of the length of the blade as possible, that's why I like these because almost the
whole of the blade is exposed and we get nice and shallow to the surface of our bread dough.
Some of them just poke out the end bit of the blade and I think to myself, well that's
just going to snag. It's easy to get down, low and when I say swift, don't confuse that
with fast or quickly. Don't act with haste, don't rush slash in a straight line. I know the
way that a Sourdough loaf opens up or a baguette opens up makes it look like it was slashed with
a curved line but it wasn't, that's just the way that it's puffed up. It's jumped in the oven,
that's just the tension that you've built in the shaping and the increase in volume that has opened
up the cut in that way. It was a straight line to begin with. I've seen people in class many a
time do their classic smiley face cut on the side of the loaf because that's kind of what they
expect to make to achieve the shape of the burst but 99.97568 of the time it was a smooth straight
cut and the bread just opened up that way which is lovely isn't it. Wipe the blade with a cloth
before you pop the lid back on you'll get much more life out of your blade before you change it
for a fresh one. Remember that you are practicing here, this is one bread you're scoring of many,
it's not just like a one shot thing and it's game over. Yes, it may be one shot for this particular
loaf but in in the grand scheme of things on your Home Baker's Journey there will be many many
more for you to do and slash and practice and learn from. A quick video for you today, I
hope this one helped you out as you continue on your Homebakers Journey. Thank you to everyone
who's already signed up for the Homebakers Club, there are loads of you which is awesome and I
hope you like it when it comes. If you don't know what I'm talking about there's a link in the
descriptions and there'd be online courses of me soon that you better do at home as part of the
Homebakers Club. I'll be in touch with an update soon. Patrons and super thanks shoppers thank
you, you are as always totally legendary. You are the fuel that keeps the Bake with Jack engine
running and I appreciate that a lot thank you very much and I'll see you very soon for another one.
Should we do this again? Yeah, why not. See ya
