French Rolling Pins

Tapered French rolling pins are very popular with pastry chefs and are used for rolling out dough into circles - think pies and pizza, It is surprising how small changes in design can really change the “feel” of the pin, so we worked hard to come up with a good shape. Our pins taper from a diameter of 1 3/4” in the middle to 7/8” at the ends and they are 20” long.

I hand-turn each pin in my studio here in Coquitlam, BC and I use local wood; chiefly Western Bigleaf Maple because the wood has the right weight and strength to make good pins. As much as possible I use reclaimed or salvaged lumber to help reduce my personal environmental footprint. As a result you too can reduce your footprint from buying one of these.

But good design and function are not enough. The pin should also look good. I am lucky that Bigleaf Maple sometimes has beautiful designs in the wood called “figure”. This figure comes in several types; fiddleback (sometimes called tiger-stripe), flame, curly, pillowed and quilt are a few. Due to variations in the figure and colour of the wood, every pin is unique.

It is finished with walnut oil and beeswax. It can be washed in the sink in soapy water, but should not be put in the dishwasher. With time the walnut oil finish will dull. The pin can be refinished simply by wiping on some more walnut oil which is available in the salad dressing area of the grocery store. But the finish is for looks only. Most rolling pins are bare wood. If this one isn’t recoated with walnut oil occasionally it will eventually be bare wood too, and it will work just as well.

Those allergic to peanuts are not usually allergic to walnuts as they are very different plants. However, a very small number of people are walnut allergic, and they probably shouldn’t use walnut oil finished kitchen tools. If this is a concern I can remove the finish from this pin or supply one without finish. Mineral oil is another food safe finish that can be used, but I prefer walnut oil since it is a food product.