Curly maple rolling pin

[John Hart]

Thought I'd spend the whole day in the shop...but nooooo...that's not allowed. Wheel bearing went out on the truck so I only got one French rolling pin done.
Curly maple...20 inches long...sanded to 4000. No finish. 401038

[Neil Steininger]

Is there a benefit to having the taper from the center like that? The one I made, and the commercial made one I have in the kitchen, is flat through most of the body with tapered handles. I occasionally see ones shaped like yours but am never sure the reason for the difference.

[John K Jordan]

Is there a benefit to having the taper from the center like that? The one I made, and the commercial made one I have in the kitchen, is flat through most of the body with tapered handles. I occasionally see ones shaped like yours but am never sure the reason for the difference.

I've seen them both ways. Most are flat in the center section, often most of the center section, with the tapered part on the ends like handles. I've always made them that way. But I have seen a few with longer tapers with slight central rounding in the middle, for example these for sale on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Walnut-French-Style-Rolling/dp/B00NI96TU0
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401087

I'll ask my Lovely Bride what the difference is and when you would use one over the other.

JKJ

[John Hart]

I do a variety because I'm told that it comes down to the baker's preference. Something to do with hand placement and pressure. Personally, I've never used one.

[John Hart]

My better half just sent me a link that might explain better than I can
https://www.wikihow.com/Choose-a-Rolling-Pin

[Hayes Rutherford]

Nice rolling pin for sure. One thing that was pointed out to me by a pastry chef is the amount of pressure you can apply with a tapered pin is much greater than a typical straight 12" one with handles. Most nationalities have some sort of dough like Pirogi that gets rolled out and filled with something, then boiled or fried. The waste dough is gathered up, rolled out and filled again, getting so stiff that the pressure needed might cause flimsy handles on a straight 12" rolling pin to break. The tapered pin can exert more psi with less effort. The requirements for soft thin dough are quite the opposite so its all good.

[Dan Hunkele]

I always thought the tapered pin let the chef concentrate the pressure. Useful in a noodle situation where the dough is denser and needs rolled thin usually from the center out. The tapered pin would require less pressure than the flat pin for accomplishing the task.

[Stan Calow]

I like making these for gifts. They look great in curly maple. I've made about 6 of each. I asked my friend the baker which kind she wanted, and she wanted both. Like Hayes said, she said the tapered one was better for pastry and small items, while she preferred the straight one for things like pie crust that needed to be larger.

[mark kosse]

John, I have info on mesquite if you can pm me. I don't understand but I don't see how to do it anymore.

[Neil Steininger]

Thanks for the answers, and not laughing at me for asking what amounts to cooking advice on a woodworking forum :) Beautiful rolling pin by the way!

[John K Jordan]

I like making these for gifts. They look great in curly maple. I've made about 6 of each. I asked my friend the baker which kind she wanted, and she wanted both. Like Hayes said, she said the tapered one was better for pastry and small items, while she preferred the straight one for things like pie crust that needed to be larger.

I'll have to try one tapered. These are also good for kids to "make" and make. The girl in the last photo was excited to make one - she said the girls in the group home flattened cookie dough by pounding with their hands.

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We've never used wood as nice as the curly maple John H used but someone gave me some recently!

JKJ

[John Hart]

Nice kid pictures, John :)

[John Hart]

John, I have info on mesquite if you can pm me. I don't understand but I don't see how to do it anymore.

Hey Mark...that thread was moved to classifieds. I can't PM you.

[John K Jordan]

John, I have info on mesquite if you can pm me. I don't understand but I don't see how to do it anymore.

Mark, due to recent changes by the forum management, the ability to send and receive private messages and email is now reserved for contributors. There were recent forum announcements: https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?270736-Private-Messaging-Access-Priviliges

It's only $6 min per year and helps keep SMC from going away. https://sawmillcreek.org/payments.php I long ago signed up for automatic recurring monthly contribution, painless.