Though the baguette-shaped plastic handle might be kitschy, it provided plenty of grip and was lightweight enough to maneuver easily. What we liked: The Breadtopia Bread Lame truly excelled at scoring, and it’s simple, bendable design means that almost every baker can find a curved or straight angle that works best for them.

The Best Bread Lame: Breadtopia Bread Lame Usability Tests: Throughout testing, I evaluated each lame based on how easy it was to hold, clean, assemble, and take apart.Each lame was evaluated for how well it created extra-long slashes, how easy it was to control each slash, the shape of the ear it produced, and overall ease of use. Longer and narrower than a batard, this country sourdough is the standard bread I make the most often, with 15% whole wheat, 20% high-extraction wheat flour, 25% malted bread flour, and 40% high-protein bread flour. Country Sourdough Oblong Scoring Test (Winner’s-Only): The final test for the best performing bread lames was to evaluate their performance scoring longer, oblong-shaped country sourdough loaves.Each lame was evaluated for how simple it was to create multiple slashes on a small canvas through a heartier dough, how easy it was to control each slash, and overall ease of use. This dough was 50% whole wheat, 25% malted bread flour, and 50% high-protein flour (mixed again at an 80% hydration).

Sourdough Mini-Miche Boule Scoring Test: To evaluate each lame’s ability to make multiple, quick slashes on a smaller shaped dough with higher whole-wheat content, I tested each one on a mini boule-a round shaped loaf- fashioned after a sourdough miche.Each lame was evaluated for how simple it slashed through the dough, its control during the scoring, and its overall ease of use. My dough consisted of 10% whole wheat flour, 40% malted bread flour, and 50% high-protein bread flour (mixed at 80% hydration). Pain Au Levain Batard Scoring Test: To evaluate the ear-producing ability of each bread lame, I tested each one’s scoring ability with a sourdough recipe that is extremely similar to this pain au levain recipe.

Bread razor blade