Cheap Lee Valley Bread Lame

Named after the French word for blade, a bread lame is used to score the dough surface before baking, creating the distinctive slash marks often seen on artisanal bread. Not just decorative, this helps the loaf keep its shape as it expands in the oven, allowing it to release pressure by splitting open in chosen spots so it won’t swell and bubble unpredictably.

Supplied with 10 stainless-steel blades, the 7 1/2″ lame has a blade holder at either end – one holds the blade straight to create long end-to-end slashes or other rectilinear designs, and the other flexes the blade into the curved shape used to make traditional sourdough “ear” patterns. Each blade has four numbered cutting edges, so when one edge eventually dulls, you can simply rotate it in the holder to expose a fresh edge.

Dishwasher safe. Various colors, depending on supply.