Types of Rolling Pins
With the convenience of today's pre-packaged pie shells, biscuits and cookie dough the use of rolling pins is becoming a thing of the past. Unless you are a professional home-chef, you are more apt to see rolling pins in a rural home where they'll throw down some flour, a ball of dough and roll out their own biscuits because the grocery store is 10 miles away. Even so there are plenty of different types of rolling pins still in use today. Does this Spark an idea?
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Roller type
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Wooden styles Generally, American rolling pins are made of wood and are cylinder shaped with handles on both ends. Two styles exist. One is where the handles are stationary and the cylinder rolls independently on a rod with bearings. The other style is where the handles and cylinder are one piece and the handles roll inside your palm's grasp. Either way it flattens your dough to a thickness that's perfect for pastries, cookies, bread, biscuits or dumplings. It's also great for crushing crackers, wafers or breadcrumbs.
Rod type
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Rod rolling pin Rod style rolling pins are much thinner, shaped more like a baton and rolled with the palm of your hand instead of using handles. The rod style is more for pie shells or pasta and is commonly used in France, East Asia and Turkey where they believe it's better to feel the dough that you are working with.
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Materials
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Marble rolling pin Rolling pins are made from many more materials than just wood, even though wood is the most common. Different materials are better for different uses. You can easily find rolling pins made from glass, ceramic, copper, marble or metal. Metal is a common material in rolling out candy because of the nonstick, cool surface. Marble is handy for thinner dough found when making pita breads or pastries because the heaviness of marble makes for less work on your wrists. Marble's weight is also wonderful for crushing or pulverizing nuts.
Temporary rolling pins
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Make-shift rolling pin Fear not if you need a rolling pin and do not have one in your collection of kitchen utensils. Grab a canning jar or heavy duty drinking glass that is cylinder shaped, sprinkle it with flour and roll away. The flour will keep it from sticking, and you can use it until you get to the store to buy a real one. If you need added weight or a chilled rolling pin for candies, just add cold water or crushed ice to your jar and screw the lid back on. Another provisional rolling pin is a can of vegetables, washed well, paper removed, chill if needed, and it too can roll with the best of pins.
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References
- Photo Credit rolling pin image by anna karwowska from Fotolia.com wooden rolls for rolling dough image by Maria Brzostowska from Fotolia.com knäckebrot image by Mareen Friedrich from Fotolia.com Apples and eggs image by Susanne Karlsson from Fotolia.com empty glass jar image by vadim kozlovsky from Fotolia.com
