Rolling pins: marble v. wood v. other

I don't know, re marble. Probably pastry. I have two oldie wooden ones and those are not all that light weight.. also from antique or thrift stores. I drilled holes into studs to take the screw hooks to hold them by the rolly handles.

My wooden rolling pin is pretty old but it isn't very heavy. I think I got it from my mom's house at some point. (My mom is not a good cook, heck, she's barely a cook at all, what she was doing with a rolling pin at all I don't know.)

I've looked at some newer pins but either the light weight or the heavy cost has stopped me from buying one.

ha!

Marble rolling pins are good for pastry as the marble stays cool - and that's sort of important when you're rolling out pastry. You can buy fancy rolling pins that are hollow inside - you put ice/ice water inside. They're lighter than marble, but not really as nice (in my truly not humble opinion)

I barely bake at all nowadays, but in the meantime I've picked up about mmmmm 12 or 15 or 20 rolling pins. Mostly different shapes and sizes of treen, a couple of ceramic ones ... I posted about it at Abuzz at some point. I was trying to figure out a good way to display them and still have access to them.

I think all but 2 of them are from thrift/second-hand shops.

and now I just want to say ooooooooh and aaaaaaaaaahhhhh

http://www.fantes.com/rolling-pins.html

I recall seeing pictures of your collection at some point, ehBeth, which is why I gave you a "hello" in the tags. I knew you would dive in!

I've been dickering with the idea of a "collection" of something since visting my brother's house. His wife collects bird things. Even in their temporaryish home her bird collection is evident.

In some kind of a weird way seeing a collection of something was comforting. I don't know how to explain it --- even though it wasn't their permanent home it felt like home because of the collection.

I'm getting nostalgic in my old age......

Don't you have a tassel collection?

S'funny, I don't think of the rolling pins as a collection, but they sort of became one.

I think a lot of the 'collection' thing comes from the presentation.

Over the years, I've picked up a lot of bird decoys, carved birds, soapstone birds, fabric birds ... I don't see the collection as they're spread all over the place. When I moved here, I packed up all of the birds and took them to a friend's place for safekeeping (some of the decoys are kind of special - serious antiques from serious auctions) during the early reno days. G unpacked the birds and set them all out in her conservatory. All of a sudden there was a collection. Almost made me wish I had a whole room I could devote to presenting the birds.

Ok, ok, I envy your rolling pin collection! My two just happen to work with a sixteen inch stud distribution for the hooks -
and I really liked (this was back in north north - now they're in a basket) both seeing them on the wall and having them grabable.

I'd still be interested in a wall display if I were you, but with that many, they probably vary in length.

Mulling.


Boom, I got my best one at an "antique" store that sold armoires. Well, in north north, they still didn't cost that much.

I saw something in a Country Living mag, some years before I had all of these pins. It was a plastic-coated wire grid mounted on a wall - about 4 - 5 feet wide, floor to ceiling. The rolling pins were on hooks, horizontally. It looked fab.

I don't have enough wall space in my odd little kitchen. Well, not tiny, just very oddly set up - too many doors and windows, not enough cupboards or walls.

Mulling more, I still see beefy eye hooks to hold each end of said rolling pins - however the length measurements vary but presumably in descending order ... but how? On to a vert stretch of 3/4" ply and that is screwed to studs? Quandary - some eye hooks have longer than 3/4" screw threads..


Ah well. There are probably other fun ways to display them.

Missed your post there, ehBeth. Yeh, I had a big and odd kitchen in north north.
The rolling pins were in the breakfast nook. But not sixteen of them.
I had unrealized plans to do a shallow but sturdy shelf in the back hall way to the outdoors for vinegar and oil bottles...
sigh.

wow, a decoy collector. Do you have any Shang Wheelers or MAdison Mitchells?.

I love a marble rolling pin for patry. WHenever I make my mommas nut roll, the use of the sugar bed on which I roll the dough is accomplished much better by first sticking the rolling pin in the freezer for half an hour and use,then after every 10 rolls, stick it back in the freezer.

A cold roller on a wooden dough board, thats the only way to get a fine dough. Im not the cookie maker (except for macaroons) so I dont know how the dough reacts with the roller but my wife loves the marble one (ACTUALLY its not marble, its probably a cheaper rock like onyx)

You can buy that powder coated gridwall in all kinds of sizes at any retail supply house, eBeth. I use a local place called Grand and Benedicts: http://www.grand-benedicts.com/product_search.asp

I suppose my tassels constitute a collection in that I have them all hung together, on a wire festooned with a button collection, no less.

I guess I've never thought of them as a collection in that I don't really seek them out but pick them up when I happen across them for cheap.

I wonder if those new fangled rolling pins I've been so dismissive of are actually supposed to be filled with water to give them some heft.....

I don't suppose I need one now that I've found a heavy pin.

During my childhood - that's in the 50's of last century - grandma used the marble pin only on special occasions - together with the marble board.


It became posh, here in Germany, a couple of years ago - later it were those in stainless steel.

Marble rolling pins are brittle if you drop them.

And they can break your toes! Oh man oh man can the ever!


Yay!
I now have a safe place to talk about my obsession with rolling pins

I love love love the french rolling pins.

For Jillian, when she wants to cook, I put a smooth glass with a wet wash cloth inside into the freezer.
When I take it out I spray it ever so gently with warm soft butter ( I have a spritzer )
This keeps it from sticking to anything because no matter what I do to prepare dough.. little miss gets it stuck.

When the glass goes a tad warm.. about 3 minutes or so, I take out the washcloth, move it around, and put it back in and with in a few seconds, the glass is cold enough for her to continue.

I want to find a small french glass pin for her.. but Im afraid she will break it .


I have a super heavy antique wooden pin and I found a canister at goodwill ( where I also found the pin! ) that is the perfect height and width for flour.
I dunk my pin in the canister, pull it out, rub it a tad and go.

I have always wanted one of those ceramic ones..

Lemme see if I can find an image..

Ah hah!
One of these guys -
http://www.countryliving.com/cm/countryliving/images/europe-2-de.jpg

Powdered coated gridwall might not be just the most aesthetic place to display dozens of old/antique rolling pins. Not that I'm against it - but it's not necessarily the most satisfactory way, especially in an older house. An art loft, bring over the galvanized container or wine rack. Doesn't ehBeth live in a victorian?

Back in north north, I had a tall wainscotting of redwood and gum - with the 1x4 redwood set at x on center (thinking, sixteen, not sure now, might have been twenty four). One could play with that.. with plywood and some verticals..

I can see I sound all oldie - but I can see different treatments in different circumstances. Resting on a rebar frame, tell me about it, I might listen.
I'm sort of picky re some older houses/apartments.

check out www.vermontrollingpins.com
They not only have gorgeous solid wood, heavy rolling pins, but also show a unique way of displaying them.