"Double Ear"

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Often when I cut a batard I end up with a "double ear" - ie two flaps of dough that peeled. One is usually greater than the other.

Do you know why this happens?

I hope you can see the effect in the batard below, linked to my blog post: 

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/39474/todays-bake-country-levain

 

 

 

I suspect you have done a great job of orienting the molecules in the surface of the dough, as you form the loaves.  Keep it up you are doing great!

Ford

you are holding the blade to score.  From the way the loaf is shaped, there will always be a direction to the tension under the loaf surface.  Take advantage of that while scoring and experiment with a loaf or two. Just like cutting fabric across, diagonal or with the direction of the fabric, cuts will stretch differently.