Rolling Pin

[skilletlicker]

I cook for one. Probably always will. Haven't had a rolling pin for many years. But decided to add hand pies to the menu so gonna need something like a rolling pin. Liking the looks of this one. Inexpensive, small, but adequate for hand pies I think. Thickness discs seem handy but maybe just a gimmick. (?)

Wouldn't mind spending a lot more but this seems like the tool to fit my needs.

Experience? Opinion?

 

[Cooking Goddess]

That's a really short rolling pin. The other images show a woman's hands practically covering the entire length. Is it made of plastic? I had a Tupperware one that you could fill with ice and water to keep the dough chilled. I didn't like it either empty or filled.

I have a French rolling pin I use all the time. I like the length and the tapered edges. I took my old, regular style one to our daughter's for when we visit. The first time I went to make a pie at her house I found out she didn't have a rolling pin. You want to know what worked in its place? A straight sided wine bottle!

Link to a French rolling pin on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Rolling-WoodenRoll-Fondant-Tapered-Construction/dp/B082WF6MG2

 

[taxlady]

I have used a wine bottle on occasion. I'm pretty sure I saw my mum do that. In fact, I'm not sure she had a rolling pin. She didn't make pie or pasta very often. But, when she did, it turned out fine.

 

[Just Cooking]

Mine is simple and works well for me.

Picked it up at a kitchen shop.

edit: just clicked on the link CG gives. Looks to be the same pin. Maybe I got it at Amazon. "Forgetful old man"

Ross

 

[bethzaring]

I have had one rolling pin for over 50 years that I prefer, even though I also have simple wooden ones. My go to rolling pin is made of maple wood and has ball bearings, like this one..

https://www.amazon.com/Ateco-18325-...words=rolling+pin+maple&qid=1624620663&sr=8-6

I'm surprised it is $80. I had one with spacers that I thought was a good idea but they didn't work well. My well seasoned one is a joy to use and the only one I reach for when needing a rolling pin.

 

[dragnlaw]

skillet - although I do have a tiny wooden rolling pin, probably smaller than the one you are looking at, I think you will find that the small size if very annoying.

They come in so many sizes, try to find one that is maybe double the size you are looking at. (Using the hands as a guide).

I have about 4 or 5 pins, marble for fondant, maple for the ginerbread houses with which I use long silicone 'guides' for thickness and mostly my tapered for all the other stuff.

I also have a tiny wood one for making won ton wrappers which I have yet to make!

 

[Aunt Bea]

Another vote for a wine bottle or something similar.

Save your cash and look around to see what you already have.

If you have a round jar or bottle in the recycling bin with a wide mouth that you can fill with ice cubes and water that would help to keep the pastry cold while you are working with it.

Good luck!

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

I like the shape of the pin you are looking at. I don't like that it's made of plastic. I have had multiple plastic rolling pins either crack, or develop deformities. I like this one - https://www.amazon.com/Joseph-20085-Adjustable-Removable-Multicolored/dp/B0091QO3RK/ref=sr_1_22?dchild=1&keywords=small+rolling+pin&qid=1624624912&sr=8-22, made of beech wood. This - https://www.amazon.com/Dumpling-Different-Perfect-Dumplings-Calzones/dp/B07VV9XRZK/ref=sr_1_20?dchild=1&keywords=hand+pie+maker&qid=1624625425&sr=8-20, is another great tool for making hand pies, pasties, dumplings, even ravioli. Hope you find just what you are looking for.

ZSeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Katie H]

Go to Goodwill or Salvation Army or your local thrift shops. You can get a rolling pin for next to nothing. I see them there all the time.

 

[skilletlicker]

Thanks, everybody. I've got an empty glass jar with a 3" mouth and 6" straight side. Reckon I'll see if that fills the bill first.

 

[Roll_Bones]

Another vote for a wine bottle or something similar.

Save your cash and look around to see what you already have.

If you have a round jar or bottle in the recycling bin with a wide mouth that you can fill with ice cubes and water that would help to keep the pastry cold while you are working with it.

Good luck!

Thanks, everybody. I've got an empty glass jar with a 3" mouth and 6" straight side. Reckon I'll see if that fills the bill first.

Glass is dangerous. You must press on it and I would bet people have been injured by using something it is not designed for. Like a wine bottle.
The rolling pin above that is 17" long is $9.95. If thats to much to ensure your safety, well I will say no more.
I highly discourage the use of a bottle as a rolling pin. Highly. Cumbersome at minimum. Don't tell me the neck is any help to rolling.

 

[pepperhead212]

I have two 18" rolling pins I use - a straight one, and a tapered, for when I want to roll out the dough into a round, like for a pie. I always switch over to the straight, to flatten the dough. I have one of the heavy types, with the ball bearings, but I rarely use that - I can't even remember the last time I used it, but it is good for rolling out stiff dough, like puff pastry. For spacers I have scrap wood from my workshop - 2 each of 1/8", 3/16", 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2", bundled together in a cabinet in the dining room, near that rolling pin I rarely use! I use these more, but still not very often.

 

[dragnlaw]

I agree with Roll Bones on this. A Wine Bottle is great "in an emergency" but certainly not for constant use.

It is awkward and with the handle, unbalanced. Being glass? Well....

 

[taxlady]

Glass is dangerous. You must press on it and I would bet people have been injured by using something it is not designed for. Like a wine bottle.
The rolling pin above that is 17" long is $9.95. If thats to much to ensure your safety, well I will say no more.
I highly discourage the use of a bottle as a rolling pin. Highly. Cumbersome at minimum. Don't tell me the neck is any help to rolling.

First, the link to the rolling pin that skilletlicker posted gets me to a page that says "Wilton Fondant 9 Inch Rolling Pin". It also has " Size: 9" " written in the listing, so not 17" long. Or did you mean the link that CG shared? I don't see a price with that one. It says unavailable.

Second, wine bottles tend to be made of thicker glass than most jars, but even a jar shouldn't break from normal use as a rolling pin. The only time I have ever broken a wine bottle, it fell on concrete.

But, it might be a good heads up to pay attention to how much pressure is being used to roll something out. The only time I can imagine needing to press hard is when dough has been refrigerated to very cold and the fat in the dough is quite solid. Or, if the dough has been frozen and hasn't defrosted enough.

 

[taxlady]

I agree with Roll Bones on this. A Wine Bottle is great "in an emergency" but certainly not for constant use.

It is awkward and with the handle, unbalanced. Being glass? Well....

Yeah, a bottle is a good emergency substitute, not something I would want to use all the time. But, I think it would be plenty good enough to find out if a person even feels that the pies were successful enough to keep making them.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

I mentioned a wine bottle as an emergency tool. Loverly got my unused pin on our next trip in. You do what you have to do for pie at the holidays. [emoji6]

...Or did you mean the link that CG shared? I don't see a price with that one. It says unavailable...

They're gone? There were two when I posted that. Lots of other places to get stuff besides Amazon, but here's another merchant on the site with five...at this moment:

https://www.amazon.com/Winware-Fren...ocphy=9001832&hvtargid=pla-373642413567&psc=1

 

[skilletlicker]

My New Handpie Dough Roller

Until I bleed out or feel the need for a better one.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

SL, do you have rubber gloves in the house? Something like "Playtex Living Gloves"? I do that when trying to open a difficult jar and need to whack the lid.. Wearing those will afford some protection to your hands. Put those on right before you start rolling...unless they are usually used for scrubbing toilets. Probably want to avoid those...

 

[dragnlaw]

I was not implying that the glass would break while using it as a rolling pin, whether or not it is a wine bottle or a jam jar. They are both very strong and could take it.

What I am referring to:- Pastry/pie dough is made with fats and you are also powdering everything with extra flour so nothing sticks.

Glass is slippery. Things can fly given the right circumstances.

Short fat pudgy things can not give you the right balance to roll dough out easily/evenly - yadda yadda yadda...

It is not particularly easy for a beginner to roll evenly.

But skillet - use that jar until you feel you know if you want to continue with pie making. Then decide! LOL happy scarfing!

 

[gerardj]

I have had one rolling pin for over 50 years that I prefer, even though I also have simple wooden ones. My go to rolling pin is made of maple wood and has ball bearings, like this one..

https://www.amazon.com/Ateco-18325-...words=rolling+pin+maple&qid=1624620663&sr=8-6

I'm surprised it is $80. I had one with spacers that I thought was a good idea but they didn't work well. My well seasoned one is a joy to use and the only one I reach for when needing a rolling pin.

Thats a real American rolling pin, far superior to the french stick type.
Its called American rolling pin because it was invented by American bakers, the old timers were very clever.

I was apprenticed in a french patisserie as a teenager and became curious why the french baker didn't use the french style pin, he said its an inferior design, the American version is much more practical and benefits from the bearings, it allows leverage, you get more force with less effort and it works faster on large sheets of dough. Large sheets of dough were 12 feet long x 3 feet wide, the french stick is out of its league in a commercial bakery.

I asked why don't they use the American pin in France, he rolled his eyes, "Because its called an American Rolling pin.".
He said French resent Americans . Thats their loss.
Funny thing is he was from Paris but didn't care for their attitude toward Americans.

I wouldn't pay $90 for any rolling pin, the same model made from aluminum is less than $30, I've had mine for 40 years,
I gave away my maple pins, they get chipped and oil soaked after a few yrs.

watch how easy the alum pin is to use.
https://youtu.be/qdXncLmQ08k?t=501