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The Insider Pick:
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The best rolling pins are comfortable in your hands, easy to use, and are made of durable materials. The Joseph Joseph Adjustable Rolling Pin with Removable Rings is the best rolling pin you can buy with its convenient ring system that makes it simple for you to roll dough to the precise thickness you want.
Whether you are making cookies, pie crust, pizza, or pasta, a quality rolling pin will make it easier for you to spread the dough to the shape and thickness you want. Of course, you can always get the job done with a wine bottle, but if you want precision, then it is worth spending the $ 20 (or less) on a top-of-the-line rolling pin that will likely last you for the rest of your baking days.
When most Americans envision a rolling pin, they think of the kind with two handles that you hold onto while the center pin rolls. This is called the American or baker’s rolling pin. We didn’t include any of these on our list because they are not as easy to maneuver, have too many nooks and crannies that make cleaning difficult, and there is the potential for parts to break or rust.
Instead, we mainly focus on straight dowels and French-style rolling pins, which have tapered ends. Many of the experts and professional bakers choose handle-less French pins and straight dowels because they like the amount of control it gives them. And, users report that there is a very small learning curve as you switch from the American rolling pin to one of the handle-less options.
Rolling pins are made from a variety of materials, including metal, marble, glass, and wood. Four out of the five rolling pins featured in our guide are made of hardwood. Wood provides the best value, durability, and has a comfortable heft to it. The other materials commonly used have conductive properties that require you to chill them beforehand to keep the dough from sticking to the pin. Marble has the added problems of being too heavy and hard to maneuver.
Our picks for the best rolling pins are based on our research of countless expert and user ratings and reviews. The main criteria we used for choosing the best rolling pins were their durability, design, and ease of use.
Read on in the slides below to learn why the Joseph Joseph Adjustable Rolling Pin with Removable Rings is our top pick and why you might want to consider the J.K. Adams Maple French Rolling Pin, the Ateco French Rolling Pin, the J.K. Adams Maple Wood Rolling Dowel, and the Ultra Cuisine Professional French Rolling Pin.
The best rolling pin overall
Joseph and Joseph
Why you’ll love it: When a recipe calls for the dough to be a specific thickness, you don’t have to rely on a ruler or estimation when you have the Joseph Joseph Adjustable Rolling Pin with Removable Rings.
What sets the Joseph Joseph Adjustable Rolling Pin apart from all other rolling pins is the removable disks. They transform the art of baking into a science. On each end of the solid beech wood pin is a plastic screw that holds four rings in place. The removable disks lift the pin 3/8, ¼, 1/6, or 1/16-inch off the surface you are rolling on.
The overall size of the rolling pin is 16.5 inches long and 2.5 inches in diameter. Etched into the pin is a measurement guide that helps you determine the width of the dough. Joseph Joseph recommends hand washing the wood and not submerging it in water. Also, you should dry it immediately after washing.
Wired liked this Joseph Joseph rolling pin because it was easy to adjust the disks to the depth you want, and the reviewer was impressed with how even the dough turned out. The Spruce rated this model the best for measuring. The writer liked that you could simply remove all of the rings if you wanted to use the pin as a straight dowel. The Independent included this product in its list of the best rolling pins because of its novel design.
More than 500 reviewers of the Joseph Joseph Adjustable Rolling Pin on Amazon gave it five stars. The most common reason why users like this model is that it produces even dough that takes the guesswork out of making pie crusts, cookies, donuts, and more. Though it is ideal for sugar cookies and tea cakes, you may have trouble rolling out crusts for larger pies since the actual wooden rolling part of the device is only 13.5-inches long.
Pros: Makes rolling flat dough simple, easily measure and adjust the thickness of dough
Cons: The rolling surface is too narrow
Buy the Joseph Joseph 20085 Adjustable Rolling Pin with Removable Rings on Amazon for $ 16 to $ 20
The best French rolling pin
J.K. Adams/Facebook
Why you’ll love it: The simple, timeless design of the J.K. Adams Maple French Rolling Pin sets this durably-crafted model apart.
J.K. Adams is based in Dorset, Vermont and sources all of the wood for its kitchen products from New England and elsewhere in North America. It’s a family-owned business founded in 1945 with a focus on sustainability and environmentally-friendly practices.
The Maple French Rolling Pin is 20.5 inches long and comes in 1.5 and 1.75 diameters. There is a consistent, non-tapered center section that is about 9.5 inches long. Then, the pin tapers for 5.5 inches on each end. It is handcrafted from maple wood and comes with a lifetime warranty from the J.K. Adams Co.
The company recommends hand washing with warm, soapy water then drying the rolling pin thoroughly. As with most wooden kitchen tools, you should also oil it frequently with food-grade mineral oil.
The J.K. Adams Maple French Rolling Pin made best rolling pin lists on several expert sites. Best Consumer Reviews liked that the pin is crafted from sustainable Vermont maple, and found it does a great job with pizza dough, pastry shells, and pie crusts. Wiki.ezvid.com also ranked this pin highly because it is made of sustainable materials and has a traditional, timeless design. This rolling pin was tops on Kitchen Folks’ list because of the strong maple used and the comfortable and simple grip.
Around 81% of the people who reviewed the J.K. Adams Maple French Rolling Pin on Amazon gave it five stars. Buyers report using this pin for years without any splitting or cracking issues. Some commenters had not used a French rolling pin before and found that it was easy to pick up after rolling out a pie crust or two. The key is to get the hang of the quarter-circle motion. Once they got used to it, many buyers commented that they felt like they had more control over the dough.
Pros: Made of durable Vermont maple, comfortable grip, lifetime warranty
Cons: May feel awkward at first for people used to handles
Buy the J.K. Adams FRP-1 Maple French Rolling Pin on Amazon for $ 11.99 or $ 13
The best rolling pin on a tight budget
Ateco/Webrestuaramt Store
Why you’ll love it: If you would like to try a French rolling pin but don’t have much money to spend, the Ateco 20175 French Rolling Pin is your best bet.
The Ateco French Rolling Pin is made from a single solid piece of rock maple with the ends tapered for easy use. The rolling pin has a 1.5-inch diameter in the center and 1.25-inch at the ends. This pin is fairly similar to the J.K. Adams Maple French Rolling Pin, except that it is not backed by a lifetime warranty and is slightly shorter.
Kitchen Folks included the Ateco Maple French Rolling Pin in its list of the best rolling pins because of the many different sizes consumers can choose from and the consistent quality of the various styles. The reviewer found it was incredibly durable and offered reliable performance with its user-friendly tapered ends.
On Amazon, this Ateco rolling pin has four- or five-star ratings from 93% of the people who reviewed it. Several of the users compare this model to other types of rolling pins, especially the classic roller, and they were impressed with how easy to handle the Maple French Rolling Pin is. Buyers also commented that this model is easier to clean. One verified purchaser used the pin to make dozens of gingerbread houses over the holidays.
Pros: Affordable, easy to clean, durable
Cons: May come with a hard-to-remove “Made in Canada” label on it
Buy the Ateco 20175 French Rolling Pin on Amazon for $ 10.99
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