But the dowels one ounce of extra weight seemed to matter for our child tester, who had less leverage. A handled pin is the most familiar style for most people, and you shouldnt feel bad about sticking to it if it feels more comfortable. The best way to clean your rolling pin is by wiping it with a dry dish towel. And even though the pin was less agile for rolling out round shapes, it was the most effective pin we tested for evenly rolling large surfaces such as an oval or rectangle of cookie dough, regardless of skill level. The 3 Best Rolling Pins, According to Our Editors. Maple and beech, the most common hardwoods used for rolling pins, provide good value, durability, and a pleasing weight. (If you really want a handled pin, we did test a few.)

How often you should oil or buff your pin depends on how often you use it and the climate you live in; when the wood looks pale and feels rough like dry skin, its time to care for it. The JK Adams dowel is widely available and affordably priced.

There are wonderful wooden rolling pins to be found in flea markets and antique stores, and from small manufacturers and craftspeople around the world. Derek Laughren, Food52 Test Kitchen, Interview, Cooks Country, Rolling Pins, Americas Test Kitchen, August 1, 2012, Laura Sant, One Good Find: Adjustable Rolling Pin, Saveur, April 10, 2012, Megan Gordon, My Favorite Baking Tool: The French Rolling Pin, The Kitchn, February 14, 2012, Janet Hall, 6 Favorites: Display-Worthy French Rolling Pins, Remodelista, August 21, 2013, Bakers Must-Haves: French Rolling Pin, Martha Stewart, July 11, 2014, 11 Best Baking Tools for the Holidays, Real Simple, Donna Currie, Gadgets: Put Training Wheels on Your Rolling Pin, Serious Eats, June 12, 2014, Noelle Carter, Test Kitchen Tips: Rolling Pins 101, L.A. Times, January 31, 2012, Sara Henderson, French Rolling Pins vs. Rolling Pins with Handles, Food Service Warehouse, July 6, 2016, Elisa Huang, Rolling Pins, Bon Appetit, April 7, 2008. That said, if you are looking to treat yourself or someone you love to a special kitchen tool, this is a keeper that will more than prove its worth by turning out beautiful cookies, pies, tarts, and more for decades. Sources included articles from Cooks Illustrated (subscription required), The Splendid Table, Saveur, Remodelista, The Kitchn, Real Simple,and Serious Eats, and forums on eGullet and Food52 (among others).

Dough flatness: How smooth can you roll the surface of the dough? The slender silhouette also creates a sense of intimacy in the rolling process. Copyright 2022 Meredith Corporation. The Tomnuk French Rolling Pin, our previous upgrade pick, would be a gorgeous addition to anyones kitchen. It should be flat and even from center to edge, without dents. The iconic, handled style that probably comes to mind when most people think of the toolthe kind you might remember your grandmother using, or encounter frequently at flea markets and estate salesis an American rolling pin (also sometimes called a baker's pin).

Its unfinished, matte surface held a dusting of flour well, fending off any issues with stickiness and tearing, and its simple shape meant that it could be easily fitted with generic spacers that allow you to roll dough to a precise and even thickness. Of course, in a bind (say, an underequipped vacation rental) you can always get the job done with an empty wine bottle or even a (clean!) It wont conduct the heat from your hands and melt buttery pastry. And their moving parts, with their nooks and crevices, can be a challenge to keep clean. Without prompting, each of our experts expressed that a handleless pin gives them the best sense of contact with the doughthat they can really feel the dough through the pin and know if it is level. This was the one case where I felt like a pin hand-turned in the USA was designed for aesthetics and not function. Derek Laughren says, "I prefer them, because of the added control, ease of cleaning (no moving parts, no rust, no nooks and crannies), as well as the aesthetic appeal." It would be an impossible feat to review all of them, but you can assess any pin you come across based on the criteria weve set out. At 23 ounces, it had just enough heft to help my smallest tester, 10-year-old Vivi, roll out chilled cookie dough. Each product we feature has been independently selected and reviewed by our editorial team. She explains, When you roll away from your body using the tapered pin, you can roll the pin using the underside of your forearms, which relieves stress on your hands as compared to a handled pin. When rolling out large oblong or rectangular shapes, some bakers find that a tapered pin requires more finesse to make the surface perfectly evensometimes it causes subtle hills and valleys, particularly if the taper is too extreme. Like a cast iron skillet, a rolling pin can become seasoned with use, but mineral oil gives you a head start and can compensate if you have to wash the wood with soap. For any tool to be awarded a bit of the limited space, it must be effective and versatile. Derek Laughren, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, doesnt consider himself much of a baker, but is frequently called upon to produce perfect pastry in his work. In the end, the most important factor in a good rolling pin is what is most comfortable for you, the roller. These basics are all you really need, and theyll serve you well year-round. This pin is less expensive than our top pick, and more widely available, so it may be a more practical choice for some readers. Our least favorite of all the rolling pins we tried, the Farberware Professional Nonstick Rolling Pin contender lost points for its clunky, hard-to-clean handles, underwhelming performance (uneven rolling, and it didn't seem especially non-stick), and a slew of alarming Amazon reviews which reported that it became waterlogged after washing and that the "nonstick" surface began to chip and peel after one or two uses. The ends are gently rounded off instead of bluntly cut like a mass-produced pin. We still stand by our other picks. Unlike those more basic rolling pins, it is already treated with mineral oil, so it is ready to use right away. We prioritized the handleless pins favored by experts, testing two dowel pins (with and without spacers), three basic tapered pins, three fancy hand-turned tapered pins, and the tapered silicone pin. The hard maple surface has a smoother finish than a basic mass-produced rolling pin, which keeps dough from sticking and makes it easy to clean. Wood and silicone are the most affordable and versatile materials. christmas cookies fromthesehands If you bake only a few times a year or are just starting out, you may want to spend as little money as possible on a rolling pin and go for our budget pick. Without prompting, each of our experts expressed that a handleless pin gives them the best sense of contact with the doughthat they can really feel the dough through the pin and know if it is level. Our adult testers couldnt tell the difference between the weight of this and the 23-ounce Whetstone Woodenware French pin (which is thicker than other tapered pins we tested). Our experts and testers agreed that a handleless pin is the best tool; this one stood out amongst the 12 rolling pins I tested. ", Ko, on the other hand, relies almost exclusively on a heavy, simple, wooden dowel-style French pin. To put the contenders through their paces, we took notes comparing the results when working with many, many, many batches of two of the most common types of rolled dough: Food & Wine's all-butter pie dough (for flaky, delicate, double-crust pies) as well as our sugar cookie dough (for classic, buttery rolled and cut cookies). We also loved rolling out cookies with an ultra-luxe (but pricey) nylon model, and we found an excellent tapered rolling pin. As their name suggests, tapered French pins narrow off at the ends, an elegant design feature that's not only aesthetically pleasing but also makes them easy to maneuver and pivot when rolling pie dough into neat rounds or working a delicate pastry. A good pin shouldnt be so so heavy that it cracks a flaky piecrust, or so light that you have to lean your whole weight into it to get any work done. this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines. Of the seven French rolling pins I tested, Whetstone had the longest straight section in the middle, measuring 12 inches compared to the typical six to eight before tapering off towards the ends. Our journalists combine independent research with (occasionally) over-the-top testing to save people time, energy and money when making buying decisions. When we tested 12 carefully selected rolling pins (out of nearly 30 we considered) on three types of dough, the timeless maple 23-inchWhetstone Woodenware French Rolling Pin proved to be a superior tool and a great value. It should be noted that some very skilled bakers, like Yossy Arefi of the blog Apartment 2B Baking Co., prefer a dowel pin. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission. It's often something people keep on the counter close to the stove, so you don't have to go digging for a pin." You can wash your pin with a soapy sponge if you need to, and then rinse it and wipe it dry. Aluminum pins can discolor eggy dough; neither metal nor glass hold flour well. Erin Patinkin, co-owner of Ovenly bakery and co-author of the Ovenly cookbook, started as a home baker without formal training. If all you ever roll out is forgiving yeasted dough for pizza or sticky buns, a wine bottle might be all you need (until you tire of digging through the recycling bin every time you bake). "When I cup my hands over it they fit perfectly and it rolls just like an extension of my arm." Our 10-year-old tester initially preferred a handled pin because it did most of the work for her, but after a few more tries she decide the dowel was better because it gave her a sense of contact with the dough. In my home kitchen, Im a rigid minimalistliving in a Brooklyn apartment, I have to be. However, it may be time to upgrade if you find yourself struggling with sticking or cracking dough, a pin thats difficult to maneuver, or a handled pin that spins in place instead of rolling smoothly across the surface.

We tested the rolling pins on a hot humid day in a small Brooklyn kitchenchallenging conditions for even the most skilled bakerwith a 10-year-old and a 24-year-old who didnt have much experience baking. You cant always judge a book by its cover, but the Tomnuk is as effective as it is beautiful. While our 10-year-old said she didnt need the spacers, we noticed that the thickness of her cookie dough was perfectly consistent when she used them and fairly uneven when she didnt. We think youre likely to do a lot more baking if you have a tool like this. The 23-inch version of this tapered pin rolls dough more efficiently than handled pins, works well for rolling both pies and cookies, and is one of the easiest to clean.

The heaviest of the tapered pins, it flattened dough with less effort than narrower lighter models, but it wasnt so heavy that it cracked or dented the dough (as handled pins sometimes did). How much flour do you have to apply during rolling? Food and Wine presents a new network of food pros delivering the most cookable recipes and delicious ideas online. When you think of a rolling pin, you probably picture the kind with two handles, called a bakers or American rolling pin. Sounds easy enoughbut without a good rolling pin, the task might be more challenging than you think.

Believe it or not, I still bake for fun, too. Only the Whetstone pin, with its 12-inch flat section, came close to flattening the dough as evenly.

Win-win! But if pie-, pastry-, or cookie-making is more than a once-a-year project, stocking your batterie de cuisine with the proper tool is more than worth the minimal investment. The frustration we experienced with the basic French rolling pins that retail from $10 to $25JK Adams, Martha Stewart Collection for Macys, and Threshold from Targetdissipated as soon as I began working with the Whetstone pin.

Its more agile than a handled pin, doesnt stick to the dough as much as cheaper models, has just enough heft to do some of the work for you without smashing fragile dough, and is one of the easiest to clean. While it lacked some of the agility of the tapered pins when finessing pie crusts and shaping round edges, it still managed the job ably and, in fact, produced evenly flattened crusts even more consistently. The spacers did feel a little awkward, as it was hard to find a placement where they didnt interfere with your grip or make tracks in the dough. The marketplace is also increasingly full of specialty handmade pins crafted from unusual or luxury woods. While function is the most important aspect of any kitchen tool, aesthetics make a difference in how you relate to it. However, the craftsmanship still doesnt compare to that of the Whetstone Woodenware pin, and its not quite as easy to use. Weve assembled a list of 50 of the worlds most reliable, inexpensive wines bottles that offer amazing quality for their price year in and year out.

But its ideal for rolling oblong and rectangular shapes and can be fitted with spacers to help achieve precise thickness. It takes practice, precision, and creativity to produce prize-winning baked goods. Heavy but not oppressively so, with a wonderful balance in the hand, it made rolling sugar cookie dough a delight, producing even sheets every time, and tackled discs of buttery pie dough without tearing or sticking. Although we still love the Tomnuk French Rolling Pin, weve removed it as a pick due to availability issues. But each has its drawbacks. Related: The Best Cookie Sheets for Every Baking Need, According to Our Editors. Crafted from solid wood, it is simple, sturdy, and a total bargain at about $6and for a basic rolling pin, you could do a lot worse. This inexpensive pin used to be one of our picksit was one of the least expensive models available, and we thought its thickness and heaviness made for easy dough flattening. Learn more. If its tapered, look for a straight section in the middle of seven inches or more, or look for a very gradual arc across the whole pin. The ideal length of a handleless pin is 18-22 inches. While not as quick to pivot as a tapered pin when rolling out a circle, the JK Adams 19-inch flat section consistently flattened a large surface area evenly. The Whetstone pin was just right. Weight: Hefty pins require less strength to use than lighter ones, but they can dent or crack doughis there a happy medium? Handleless pins come in two styles: ones that taper towards the end, often referred to as French rolling pins, and straight dowels that are sometimes called shaker pins. (The higher-end pins were already treated with mineral oil or beeswax, so I rubbed mineral oil into the untreated wooden pins the night before testing to level the playing field). Although we think the Whetstone Woodenware French Rolling Pin will work best for most people, the JK Adams 19-inch Maple Rolling Dowelalso performed well. A simple, sturdy pin is all anyone needsand properly cared for, should last through a lifetime of baking adventures. I prepared batches of dough with as much precision as possible, using weight instead of volume to measure ingredients in order to eliminate variables that might throw off the results. We love the J.K. Adams Dowel Rolling Pin. When most people think of a rolling pin, they conjure the image of a wooden one with two handles, but the experts we interviewed and novices we tested with agreed that a pin without handles gives a better sense of the dough and is a better tool if you are baking for hours. Its thicker, heavier, and longer than any of the other tapered pins. Ive worked as a pastry baker in Providence, Rhode Island, at Olgas Cup and Saucer and Cook & Brown (sometimes rolling out hundreds of pies in a day), recipe developer for publications that include Edible Brooklyn and Marie Claire, and food stylist for sites such as Refinery29. . American: Most rolling pins fall into two basic camps. Traditionally, pins are turned from hardwood. And it should be simple to clean and store. Fletchers' Mill 20-Inch French Rolling Pin, Farberware Professional Non-Stick Rolling Pin, Farberware Professional Nonstick Rolling Pin. The Fletchers' Mill 20-Inch French Rolling Pin is beloved by a lot of the pro bakers we spoke with, and its simple lines and sleek finish are certainly appealing, especially when trying to work pastry into thin, delicate rounds. Maneuverability: Does the pin turn smoothly when rolling out a circle? Its long, tapered shape also makes it ideal for rolling rounds of crust for pie and the more oblong shapes for cookies. Rolling pins are tinged with nostalgia for real or imagined mothers and grandmothers, and they are your tactile connection with the dough you shape. Make sure whatever pin you are using is unfinished, or at least can hold a dusting of flour and have the grip to actually roll. Chef Monica Byrne, of Home/Made in Brooklyn, also concedes that a dowel flattens more consistently. After narrowing the field based on input from our favorite pro bakers, we put six rolling pins to the test. However, Parks points out that her mother makes gorgeous pies with a handled pin and feels awkward using the French styleultimately, the best pin is the one you like. Plus, its good-looking and sturdy enough to last a lifetime. Never, ever, let it sit out wet. We also included three handled pins as a point of reference. But, if you can afford to spend another $16, the J.K. Adams dowel is easier to control, easier to clean, and definitely a better long-term investment. It should feel smooth but not slick, be at least 18 inches long, and if it tapers, look for a very gentle arc or a seven-inch straight section in the middle. We rolled very buttery and fragile-flaky pie crust into circles, soft and sticky sugar cookie dough into wide ovals, and a sweet yeasted dough for sticky buns into squares. We prefered the easily-replaceable generic spacers we tested on the JK Adams Rolling Dowel. What sets apart a superior rolling pin? Tapered pins pivot easily as you roll, making them ideal for flattening round pie crusts. Silicone is also a relatively bad conductor (and therefore also good at keeping your dough cool). We wavered about recommending one of the more-expensive pins we tested when one that costs around $10 to $16 does the job just fine. Weight and diameter are subjective: light, narrow pins are more agile, while heavier pins do more of the work for you. But if youre after precision in your pies and cookies, a rolling pin is worth the $10-$30 investment. Ultimately, our major reservations with this pin came down to price: at more than $100 it's no small investment, and given the cost, doesn't offer 4 times the performance of the J.K. Adams pin. That said, if you make a lot of pies, it might be worth giving this option a chanceor, if you're a committed baker, getting both a tapered pin and the J.K. Adams dowel. The spacers are built like plastic washers held on with a plastic bolt. Vermont Rolling Pin French Rolling Pin, Cherry. Wooden rolling pins, just like wooden spoons and cutting boards, should never be run through the dishwasher or submerged in water, for they are likely to warp. Rolling pins are tinged with nostalgia for real or imagined mothers and grandmothers, and they are your tactile connection with the dough you shape. At $18 a pop, it's not too dear an investment. How does it feel in your hands? We tested this pin with and without spacersand liked it both ways. From time to time, when the wood feels rough or dry, apply a little mineral oil with a rag and rub it in. Widely available and at a price point that feels accessible to even the most entry-level baker, this pin is an incredible value. An extra $15-$19 isnt much to spend on a tool that will last you a lifetime. But its not as agile as the Whetstone, which makes it slightly awkward for rolling out round shapes. Thats important if youre making dozens of cookies or racing to flatten pie dough before the butter melts on a hot day. Steer clear of bells and whistles and don't feel like you have to spend a fortune.

The trade-off between agility and even rolling is a matter of personal preference.

I dont have room for useless duplicates, silly gadgets, or junk. broomstick handle. We suspected that the advantage of higher-end rolling pins was mostly aesthetic, but it turned out that their smoother finish generally meant less sticking, less dusting with flour, and easier cleaning. (Our top picks for performance and value were all maplewhich tends to be the least expensive of the bunch.) When hosting Thanksgiving for the first time, its best to keep it simple. Like the Vermont Rolling Pin, the Whetstone came neatly packed in an appropriate-size box (pins from Target and Amazon came in outrageously large packages) that makes you feel like it came from a person, not a warehouse. The shape of the pin allowed for rolling out large surfaces smoothly, as well as truly round discs. We preferred the simplicity of dowel and tapered pins which have no bearings to wear out and no cracks for flour to collect in. For most self-massage applications, the AmazonBasics High-Density Round Foam Rollergets the job done. "When your hand is actually on the body of the pin, you can feel every little bump and discrepancy," says Stella Parks. The unique torpedo shape with only 7 flat inches (in contrast to the 12 inches on our main pick) was too extreme for good handling or smooth rolling. Another bonus: Because nylon is non-porous, unlike wood, this pin would be even more adaptable to other (potentially messy) kitchen tasks that require the blunt force of something weighty, like pounding meat or crushing nuts or spices, without the worry of staining or contamination. We had five kids, ages 2 to 8, test cooking tools and found that the best options are those that work well for adults too. The hand-finished Whetstone, a tapered French-style pin, not only worked better than handled versions; it proved superior to similarly shaped mass-produced pins (while costing a fraction of what hand-turned pins sell for). They ranged in price from $10 to about $90. Looking to amp up your beef stew but unsure where to start? All Rights Reserved. Now all that's left to do is roll it out into a neat, even sheet. McDermott told this cautionary tale: "Occasionally I am given a pin that's made from rosewood or something else absolutely beautifulbut is virtually unusable because someone put a finish on the outside that makes it impossible to roll the dough." The surface should feel very smooth, but not so slick that flour wont adhere. Imagine the iconic rolling pin and it probably looks like the Ikea Magasin Wooden Handled Rolling Pin. Its weight was similar to our top pick: light enough not to crack or dent fragile dough, but heavy enough to help the work go quickly with less muscle. And this pin was easier to use for our 10-year-old tester. To clean and care for a wooden rolling pin, remove any excess dough from the roller with the dull edge of a knife or a bench scraper, then give the pin a quick rinse in warm water and dry it thoroughly. Other features: How easy will it be to store? *At the time of publishing, the price was $16. This is the same as the JK Adams Handled Pin 12 x 2, but a little thinner and lighter. "We frequently use a wine bottle at home. It glided across flaky pie crust, requiring fewer applications of flour than the aforementioned pins. But ultimately, its lighter weight and more slender silhouette seem better suited to niche work with precise tasks and laminated doughs, whereas the dowel pins felt like all-purpose workhorses. (Though Ko added that she also has a petite 12-inch dowel that she's "crazy about" for rolling out small rounds for dumplings, hand pies, or other petite projects.). With a 12-inch barrel, its a good length for most projects. If you already own a rolling pin that you like, you neednt fret over getting a better one: the best rolling pin is one that you are comfortable with. In general, a good pin should be weighty enough that it, not your biceps, is responsible for most of the flattening power; have a finish that discourages sticking and resists absorbing moisture that might taint or weaken dough; be long enough to generously manage big batches of cookie dough or sheets of delicate pastry, and feel balanced enough to yield an even dough surface that's free from problematic dips or divots. Stella Parks, a professional pastry chef who wrote the bookBrave Tart, covers pastries forSerious Eats and is known for down-to-earth explanations of the science and technique of pastry.



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