how to avoid an ear on your sourdough bread

I don't personally like an ear because it's like a hard crusty bit that then you have to cut through and it's awkward for cutting sandwich slices, so that's why I don't like it. A lot of people strive for an ear. So, as long as your dough is really well fermented and you've shaped it good so there's tension on the surface, the way to get an ear is to score horizontally like this. If you don't want an ear, you turn your blade vertically and score straight down. I get that question a lot. If you score it like this and you still don't get an ear, your dough is probably overproofed, maybe underproofed, or you're lacking gluten development if you didn't work your dough very well. There's other elements to it, but as long as you have like a good strong dough that's fermented good, your blade is the technique that'll get you there. So I'm going to score right down the middle. That's it. I'm a simple gal. That's my go-to score.