Rolling Pins

[ladyknight1]

I use mine for American style biscuits and rolled dumplings too.

[Minmom3]

I have a marble slab and a marble rolling pin that SIL gave me in 1983.  Slab used to have feet, but those are long gone.  Yes, marble is heavy, but it's not so heavy that I can't comfortably use it.   Picking up the slab is far harder then using the rolling pin!  I use mine for pie dough, biscuits, and cookies.  I bought the bands of different thicknesses a few years ago, but they didn't work too well for me, as my rolling pin isn't that long, and the bands reduce the useable width even more, so they just sit in the drawer.  I can eyeball thickness well enough that they were a fun item to try, not a necessity. 

What I would change is I could fine one I could afford - is to get a larger slab.  I use 10" pie dishes, and when rolling the crust very thin, it tends to run off the far side of the slab.  With cookies and biscuits that isn't such a problem, as I can do it in smaller bits, but pie crust needs to be all one piece... 

[jmarvellous]

I only have a tapered pin, but I do not like it. I grew up with a wooden one with handles that was much better.

[PastryGoddess]

I have a marble slab and a marble rolling pin that SIL gave me in 1983.  Slab used to have feet, but those are long gone.  Yes, marble is heavy, but it's not so heavy that I can't comfortably use it.   Picking up the slab is far harder then using the rolling pin!  I use mine for pie dough, biscuits, and cookies.  I bought the bands of different thicknesses a few years ago, but they didn't work too well for me, as my rolling pin isn't that long, and the bands reduce the useable width even more, so they just sit in the drawer.  I can eyeball thickness well enough that they were a fun item to try, not a necessity. 

What I would change is I could fine one I could afford - is to get a larger slab.  I use 10" pie dishes, and when rolling the crust very thin, it tends to run off the far side of the slab.  With cookies and biscuits that isn't such a problem, as I can do it in smaller bits, but pie crust needs to be all one piece... 

I got my slab from the local Habitat for Humanity Restore.  It's 4ft by 3ft and cost me about $50. I would suggest you look into it.

[Outdoor Girl]

As I was making calzones (panzerotti) for lunch, I realized the one application where a marble rolling pin is vastly superior to a wooden one, whether you have handles on it or not.

Yeast doughs.  They tend to spring back a lot when you roll them so the heavy weight of the marble helps to get them rolled out more easily.  So less work for my pizza dough and the bread dough I use to make chelsea buns.

[NyaChan]

We use wooden tapered rolling pins in my house - in fact I got one with handles once to try and promptly put it away never to use again because I was so unused to it that it just didn't work right for me.  We use it to make roti or paratha.  I also use it for pastry and like it a lot.  A marble one would be cool though.