SourTube: How to Score a Perfect Ear (feat. Bread Journey)

📺 SourTube pick: This is a curated video — we didn't make it, we just love it and think you will too. All credit belongs to the creator below. Watch it, learn from it, then go show them some love.

Today's pick: How to Score Sourdough Bread - Full Tutorial

Creator: Bread Journey
Watch on YouTube: How to Score Sourdough Bread - Full Tutorial
More from Bread Journey: the blog at breadjourney.com and the Bread Journey YouTube channel

If the embed doesn't load, watch it directly on YouTube here.

Why we picked this one

Let's talk about the ear — that crispy, proud little ridge along the top of a beautiful loaf. It's the thing people photograph, the thing that makes your bread look like it came from a bakery instead of your kitchen. And for beginners, it's the thing that feels like pure witchcraft. You've done everything right — the starter was bubbly, the shaping was tight, the bake was hot — and then your score seals shut like a zipper and you get a smooth, bald loaf. Heartbreaking. Relatable. Happened to me more times than I care to admit.

Here's why Bread Journey is the perfect teacher for this: scoring isn't just a step for them, it's the whole art form. This is the channel that turns loaves into canvases, and this video is their first full-length scoring tutorial — they slow down, show you exactly how they score one of their basic patterns, and explain the blade work as they go. You get to watch a master work at a teaching pace instead of a highlight-reel pace.

The part that finally clicked for me: the ear isn't a different trick from scoring — it IS scoring, done with intention. It's one confident slash, held at a shallow angle so the blade nearly lies against the dough, deep enough to open but positioned so the top layer lifts into a flap as the loaf springs. Everyone wants to know the magic angle. The real answer is the angle matters less than your confidence: a quick, decisive slash with a sharp blade beats a hesitant, wobbly one every single time, whatever number of degrees you read online.

And Bread Journey's work is living proof that scoring has a range. The same hands that carve museum-level patterns start with this basic slash. Nail the fundamental expansion score and the ear shows up on its own — the artistry is just decoration layered on top of solid technique. Every scoring master started exactly where you are.

What you'll learn

• The full scoring process, shown slowly: watch a seasoned scoring artist work through one of their basic patterns in real time — the flour dust, the blade angle, the hand speed — so you can copy the motions, not just admire the result.
• How an ear actually forms: why one deeper expansion slash at a shallow angle lifts into that crispy ridge in the oven, while straight-down cuts open evenly and decorative surface cuts stay shallow on purpose.
• The mindset before the skill: commit to the cut. Scoring is one of those skills where hesitation is the enemy — a firm, swift slash keeps the dough from dragging and deflating under the blade.

Our two cents to go with it

Two beginner things worth knowing before you hit play:

1. Chill the loaf before you score it. A cold, straight-from-the-fridge loaf is firm under the blade, so your lame glides instead of snagging. Trying to score a warm, slack dough with a dragging blade is how you get ragged cuts that never open properly. Cold dough is a beginner's best friend.

2. One blade, one cut, no do-overs. Don't saw, don't redraw the line, and for the love of good bread don't make four little tentative passes over the same cut. Plant your hand, take one smooth slash, and walk away. Your first ear might be lopsided — mine looked like a croissant had a bad dream — but lopsided with character beats perfect-looking cuts that seal shut.

If watching this gets you itching to bake but your starter has been languishing in the fridge for so long it's practically paying rent — that's literally why we dehydrate ours and ship it ready to wake up fast. Skip the waiting, keep the baking. Squirrelly Girl Starter is here when you need it. 🐿️

Loved this video? Go tell Bread Journey — like and subscribe on YouTube so they keep making them.

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