TheBreadCompany Baker's Lame or Grignette (Dark-Stained Beech) with 5 Premium Blades

This is one of those tools which seems a bit unnecessary at first, but after a couple of uses you wonder however you were able to make bread without it - it does take a bit of practice (and patience!) to get the hang of it, but when you do, you will be able to notice the difference in your bread, as a quick 'slash' across the top makes the world of difference to the bread's ability to release steam during baking, resulting in a much more consistent bake (In my experience, found it best to 'slash' about 10 minutes before baking).Quick note on blades: The Grignette is supplied with a Derby Extra DE blade - this is good for several uses, but as it takes a Double Edge blade, it is very easy to source replacements for when the included blade is past best. At the moment I'm currently using Gillette 7 O'Clock Sharpedge blades, but any DE blade from a reputable source should work just as well.Turning to the manufacturer/seller (TheBreadCompany) themselves - I ordered two items at the same time and was delighted to find a handwritten note on the despatch note from Claire advising that Amazon had charged too much postage which she had refunded. Many retailers would simply accept a miscalculation in their favour and pocket the cash, so it is very nice to see a small business who have the decency to refund an overage without even blinking.I would gladly purchase this product again should the need arise.

I had been using the sharpest knives in my kitchen, and even scalpel blades, but all to no avail. The second time I used this lamé, I got the ‘holy grail’ result, which was even more impressive as the dough was proved in the basket without the linen liner. Six or seven loaves in and my confidence and execution has improved. Essential sourdough bakers tool. Well made, sturdy, and the box acts as a perfect safe storage container.

I got a spare set of blades as it specifically.said.there weren't any. Yet it does come with blades. So now I have two sets of blades.Works well.But no blade cover. Wasn't expecting one, but even so, it's pretty lethal. Looks nice, though.

Used it for the first time this morning and it works beautifully. I'm really pleased that I bought it. It was difficult at all - you just need to be quick and sure in your movement and it creates the perfect scoring for your bread. I wetted the blade just with water so there would be less friction when I quickly dragged it along the surface of the dough.

I have seen these gadgets used but thought it was not necessary, so used sharp knife with very mixed results, used a old scalpel handle with a razor blade just did not work, and was then using just a safety razor blade which sort of worked the best but had couple of accidents and it was O.K. if you just wanted to done a straight cut but no good if you want to do something a bit more creative.So ordered this gadget.First impression was it was too light was expecting something a bit heavier with having a wooden handle.There is a bit of a knack to getting the blade on but once you have done it it's easy. In use it feels good and it is not too light as I first thought you have good control which gets better after you have used a just a few times. As you know which corner you have used it easy to keep turning it so a blade will last a lot longer.It is so much safer and easy to clean because of that.If I could one thing that would elevate it, it is solve the question of where or how you store it to protect the blade.If you are serious about your bread you need one of these no question and have no hesitation in recommending it.

Great for scoring my sourdough. Came with razor blades. I made a protective guard to cover the razor blades from thick cardboard and tape. Does the job and protects both the blade and me.

Easy to set up with blade, easy to use and lovely feel to handle. A really nice product.

This product arrived just at the right time, as I was just proving some bread at the time. Ordered this a couple days ago and it arrived today so very pleased.I'd really struggled when slashing my bread with standard knives at home, no matter how sharp they were. Heard some people say that it took a few attempts to get good at using a lame but this was brilliant first time. Exactly what I was looking for. Really pleased.Only thing that would improve this (hence 4 stars out of 5) would be a little cover for the blade when it not in use to keep it a little safer. Other than that though, really pleased and will be looking at TheBreadCompany for future purchases. Thanks very much!