That's right bread not beard.. So in the baking world we use blades for scoring/slashing the dough. I've used some cheaper wilkinson sword and a few others. But I want something sharper with good last ability. Was looking at feather but think they might go blunt too fast. Any suggestions?
For general baking purposes, pretty much ANY DE blade will work—heck, even the hardware store blades will do there job. ALL are sharp, all will slice through dough. I suppose it depends how how much you're willing to spend on blades. Feathers are vast overkill—and probably wont wear as long...not sure though as I haven't made it a habit of using them on dough. I'd buy a variety of the cheapest and try them out. As with shaving, DE blades are one of the cheaper investments.
I would think that GEM Single Edge blades would be the "Ducks Guts" for this job as they are thicker, stronger, have a reinforced spine and COULD still be stropped from time to time to maintain the edge even longer per blade. As HolyRollah says, even Hardware store blades should work (Scraper Blades OR Single Edge razor blades) The other bonus with SE Blades is that there are quite a few blade holders that effectively turn the blade into a "Knife" so they are easier to use?
I've done this and then just discarded the blade. Are you washing it and saving it for further use? The chance of cutting yourself and/or dulling the blade when washing it make it seem not worthwhile, especially when blades are so cheap. But to answer your question: the difference between blades is negligible for this use. Use whatever you have on hand or can get cheapest.
There are special blade holders called lames that are specifically for slashing loaves before they go in the oven. They hold the blade at just the right angle and slightly curved. The ones I've seen take DE blades.
Whoa THIS is a new trivia fact I have to remember. I love bread !! "a lame is a knife especially for cutting/scoring bread and uses disposable razor blades that are mounted at the correct angle and slightly curved" I can see the look on people's faces as they think I am all knowledgeable Thank You, I consider I have actually learned something new today.
I found an idea already http://www.aktuelresim.com/Word/lame/Page/2 The WOODEN handles? Then modified to allow slight curve AND/OR use of SE blade for longer lasting strength/sharpness
Yeah, here's an example: https://sourdough.com/shop/lames-and-knives/baking-lame-professional-stainless-steel From what I understand, it's pronounced so it rhymes with "Tom."
After reviewing this thread I think we need to coin a new acronym - YBMMV - Your Bread Mileage May Vary
Seconded A heavy bladed Sheffield should hold onto the edge for quite some time, they were often refashioned into "Patch Knives" when they were too worn for shaving... Plus it would have some serious "BadA$$ Street Cred" hehehehe
I just use the Lame handle from TMB and pretty much any DE blade. But if you're in a commercial operation and looking to stretch those dollars then I'd probably recommend the Astra SP blades - sharp as just about anything out there, particularly if all you're doing is scoring loaves, and they're ridiculously cheap at around $10 per 100.
Why not use a sharper-than-hell small knife, such as a paring knife? It would last a lot longer and can be resharpened.
