Spent $45 on a new lame and it made my scoring so much worse
I got a fancy new lame with a curved blade, thinking it would give me those nice ear patterns. It was about $45. The blade kept catching on the dough and tearing it instead of slicing clean. My last two loaves looked like they got in a fight. Anyone have a lame they actually like for high hydration dough?
That curved blade design can be so tricky with wet dough. It sounds like the angle might be wrong for your specific technique. Honestly, I went back to a simple straight razor blade held in a basic handle. The fancy ones look cool but sometimes the simplest tool works best. You have to get that really shallow, almost flat angle with the dough surface. A fresh, sharp blade matters way more than the shape for me.