Advice on scoring not catching

I'm far from an expert, but (A) I think that's already impressive and (B) I wonder if the blade you're using is a razor or not. Despite good sharpening, your knife is not as sharp as a razor. Don't believe me? Shave with it, and report back. ?

I just wonder if all that's needed is a cleaner cut. (Speaking of clean cuts, rinse your lame whenever necessary.)

Sam, David Snyder made a scoring tutorial that has become a standard on the site. I think you will find useful information. http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/31887/scoring-bread-updated-tutorial

Dan

So hard to tell from the pictures. But appears ( and could easily be wrong) that you are slashing straight down into the dough. You might try more of an angle. If you think about catching the same amount of dough but at a sharper angle, this gives the structure needed for an ear when you get your spring.

First of all, you're making great bread.  Shaping and scoring only a couple loaves at a time means it will take a long time for us home bakers to get good at.

Deeper is not the answer.  Hamelman states that shallower cuts result in greater bloom.  The angle of approach and only using the tip of the blade are key.  It's hard to learn from a professional, too, because they do it so quickly.  It would be instructive if a pro would film it close up in slow motion.

Here are some excellent posts on scoring by Dave Snyder.

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/handbook/scoring

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10121/bread-scoring-tutorial-updated-122009

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/30001/scoring-bread-made-highhydration-dough

I am very skeptical about the angle of the scoring. My main point is that there are traditional scoring patterns that are symmetrical. The classical cross in a boule or even a straight cut on a batard. I understand when you are using intricate scoring patterns, such as some elaborate flowers, where the cuts are more superficial, but I tend to stick to the notion that it does not matter that much if you score straight or at an angle.

For me it makes sense that the cut must be deep enough. That can be seen easily if you lightly score figures such as wheat stalks, which barely open. You clearly cannot expect such scoring to generate an ear.

But hey, my ears have also been relatively timid. Here is the latest one:

49pestana.PNG

What I think is my main problem is shaping, though I am a bit frustrated, since I just cannot figure what I am doing different than all those shaping videos I've watched.

With a stainless blade, you don't have to change it every 5 uses.  Just wash off the blade, let it dry, and put it someplace where it won't rub against anything hard.  A Wilkinson double-edged blade should be good for at least 50-100 loaves (Walmart).

After reading through the comments so far, the best video on slashing has been pointed to by DanAyo.

But the two things that seem likely to improve your results are decreasing the hydration to 69%, and under-proofing a little.  Recognize that your crumb openness will likely suffer initially, but reading Trevor Wilson's Open Crumb Mastery will help you recover a lot of that.

A good experiment is to bake two loaves side by side, slashing one with a vertical blade and the other one with a curved razor blade tilted over 60° so that it leaves a little flap. A 1/4" deep slash will be enough.

To see what is going on in the oven, look at this video.  Another place to look is here where the old myth about steam preserving the stretchiness of the dough is debunked with data.  And the heat transfer in a home oven is dealt with here.

For the SAME dough, one at room temperature and the other straight out of the fridge, the cold one will always score far more easily. I score my sourdough cold and bake it straight out of the fridge. Hope this works for you.