SC - Re: rolling pins

[Jessica Tiffin]

Stefan li Rous wrote:

> Oh! Until you said this I didn't realize there could be a different
> shape than what I've seen here, the cylinder with a handle on each
> end. Does this French style have handles on both ends with a cylinder
> tapering from a larger to smaller circle? It would seem to roll in
> a circle rather than straight in that case. Or is it wider around in
> the middle than the ends, like a wooden barrel? Or it a cone with
> only one handle?

French style rolling pins tend to be longer, about 24"/60cm, and
thinner. They are about 2-3"/5-7cm in the center, and taper to both
ends, say 3-4cm (1 1/2"). Single solid piece of wood, no handles fixed
or moving, with the ends cut flat. It does roll in a wide circle, left
or right, but IIRC, the middle third or so is actually cylindrical with
the 'handles' being the gradual tapers. The tapering keeps the 'handle'
part of the pin from contacting the pastry. You don't grap the handles,
just roll it under your open palms, like kids making clay snakes. And
you can manipulate the dough left or right by shifting weight to one
side or the other and rolling on a curve. The tapered ends make it
really easy to handle just with the open hands. If it was a straight
cylinder, your hands would tend to slide sideways if you tried to push
that way while rolling.

I much prefer to handle my pins with my open hands. The pin I have that
had that rolling handle, I just took the handle off (two wooden handles
on a metal axle). My mom had a pastry roller that had two small rollers
joined my a metal handle between two "Y" yokes. One was about 5 inches
by 1.5 inches and cylindrical, the other was only 3 inches wide, a
little wider than the other roller, and looked like a slightly elongated
barrel. The barrel shape was great for rolling dough into a pan and
moving it around.

Seumas