Mure & Peyrot’s Bread Lame: Professional Grade, French Ardour Grignette

Vest Pocket Boulangerie

The Back-Story:

Peek into the kitchen of any great bakery, and you’ll, no doubt, catch a glimpse of bakers and stagiaires deftly wielding this curved razor sharp tool to slice through raw dough just before it enters the oven. What exactly are they doing? Well, these bread-masters are creating the beautiful shapes and patterns that highlight the crust of your artisan bread by delicately marking or scoring the dough with a curved razor called a Lame de Coup. As the bread bakes, this scoring allows for the escape of moisture and carbon dioxide, pushing through these slits as it escapes, causing the familiar markings seen in artisan bread.

How you use it/Why you need it:

A lame is far from a luxurious tool (this Mure et Peyrot Ardour model has the delightfully un-sexy and dispassionate REF.174.1.147 AC as its true moniker) – in fact, you may see some bakers use a regular razor blade, or even a knife to score dough – but it remains an essential tool for bread baking. Why own one? Well, using a knife or a regular razor aren’t without their difficulties. A straight razor can indeed be dangerous, and the thinner curved blade that accompanies a professional grignette allow for a slighter cut (a shag) that just isn’t possible with a regular razor. A knife can generate a nice cut, but in our experience, almost always sticks to the dough when trying to score, causing uneven marks. Also, neither will allow you enough precision to create your own mark in the bread, as you’ll certainly wish to do once you try your hand at bread-making. Preparing your first – as well as your 100th – loaf of bread is an exercise in excellence, one that deserves to display the mark of your creativity. A Lame de Coup, has been the accoutrement of bakers for hundreds of years. Maybe you can pass yours down some day.

Why we like this particular model:

We’ll tell you right up front…you can find a Lame at a lesser price than the one we’re offering. The difference however is in the design, the strength of the handle and the blade specifications itself (this one meets strict French baking standards), and the safety accuracy and sharpness of the lame. This grignette we’re featuring on TheBaker.com nails all of these concerns.

The blade, for one, is super-sharp, yet desigend with safety in mind. The blade is removable, and the handle easy to clean. As with any kitchen knife, the handle is long enough to allow you enough “swing” to your scoring strokes, and short enough to allow significant control—essential if you’re really going to use a Lame de Coup properly and safely. Think about a new pencil…just the right length for solid penmanship! This lame is also easy to spot in a drawer given it’s blue color and safety cover, and yet if you’d rather hang it alongside your kitchen knives it can be hung on a hook within easy reach of your stove due to the circular cut-out in the handle. If you find yourself eventually in need of Mure & Peyrot replacement blades, they’re easy to grab as well. A bread razor lasts a long, long time, though…

Like my dad always told me, “It’s all about having the right tool for the right job.” That’s what The Baker’s Dozen is all about!

The technical stuff:

Dimensions: 141 x 19 x 14 mm
Weight: 12g
Ref: 132.1.436
Features: light, ergonomic, good for right and left handed users, avoids MSDs, enhanced safety and security, resistant to detergents.

Also respects the French decree of January 13, 1976 that requires food grade stainless steel blades be composed of a minimum of 13% chromium, in contrast to European standards which only require 12.5% chromium.

Mure & Peyrot has also chosen to offer a range suitable for contact with aqueous, acidic, alcoholic and fatty foods (excluding dairy products) under the conditions provided for each object considered (Framework Regulation (EC) n ° 1935/2004, the Order French of 01/13/1976 – Standard NF A 36 711, associated regulations and directives).

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