I have a large French rolling pin (tapered ends) and a marble one with handles. Anything larger than the length of the marble one, and I use the French one. It does not leave grooves like the marble one does. I think I would keep the French one if I had to get rid of one.

Mine is roughly a 24" long, 2" thick dowel. It isn't tapered at all, just a solid piece of wood. I don't remember what kind of wood it is I just oil it periodically & scrape off any dough that occasionally gets stuck to it. This is my rolling pin for everything & I love it. Found it at William's Sonoma about 8 years ago.

My mother's rolling pin is the standard by which I judge. Maybe 60 years old, slightly thicker than mine and about 36" long. I think that it's maple. So well tended & well used that it's practically non stick.

Nina

I've got the French type - tapered ends - and it does a great job. The old-fashioned ones with handles that swivel look great, but sooner or later the handles are going to get loose and come off, maybe. I wash my French-style immediately after use and dry it well. Don't ever let good wood utensils sit and soak in the dishwater.

I have the kind with the swivel handles....been using it for more than 45 years....handles still on....and I also have my mother's rolling pin with the swivel handels....lots older than 40 some years.....and the handles are still fine on that one....although she didn't use it much in the past 20 some years....
Never wash my rolling pin....just scrape or rub it with some mylon scrubber.
Linda C

Maybe they don't make them like they used to or something...My mom has the same roller she used when I was growing up. Handles still intact. My grandmother too. I just don't like how narrow they are. When I roll out cookies, I roll out a lot at once and I am too heavy-handed to not end up with "tracks" from the edge of the roller. :)

Sunnyco,

That's the beauty of a rolling pin like my mom's- no tracks in the dough. I've also never found that rolling pin to be unweildy in spite of it's length.

Hmmm...I don't think that I've ever used a rolling pin with handles, with the exception of the 8" long wooden children's rolling pin that I was given when I first started "helping" my mom with the baking.

Nina

I have my mother's hollow glass rolling pin. You can put ice water inside it to keep your dough cold.

Nina,

Your pin sounds like the one I use for rolling out slabs of clay for ceramics, except that I use a wood slat on each side to keep me from mooshing down harder on one side than the other. It is a piece of closet pole (dowel) 3 ft long I bought at the hardware store for just this purpose. :)

I have a French rolling pin (tapered ends) and really love it. I find it easier to maneuver than a traditional handled rolling pin. I also wash and dry it immediately after use, using water only. I purchased mine for under $5.00 at TJ Maxx, after looking for quite a while for a "bargain" price.
N

I have had the same one for over 25 years. French Tapered. I use it for everything from pie pastry to pizza or pasta dough. The only one I own now.

Ann

Sunnyco,

I'll just bet that's what my mom's rolling pin started out life as! My father made it for her, I'm sure that it was originally a dowel. That's basically what mine is too although it came from Wm Sonoma & was more costly than a closet pole (I'm sure). The edges of the ends are rounded a bit.

Demicent, those hollow glass rolling pins are the coolest. I see them at glass shows all of the time but always wondered about their fragility. I guess they'd have to be pretty durable for them to still be around & in use.

Nina

I have an absolutely BEAUTIFUL one made out of lathe turned black walnut.

When the ex and I were on our honeymoon in the Great Smokies, we stopped in at a small woodworking shop outside, IIRC, Sevierville.

They did some really nice work, and I was admiring the rolling pins (no swivly handles).

When we got back into the car, my wife presented me with one of the most gorgeous pieces of burl walnut I've ever seen.

Unfortunately, that was the highlight of our married life. :-0

I bought myself three good roling pins. The big one I bought at a restaurant supply store, and I like its heft and turning handles. The tapered French one I bought as my souvenir in Paris. And somewhere I bought a thick almost round rolling pin a little larger than a closet rod. They are all good.

I have a wood one with the handles (that always come off the dowel when I use it) and a marble one that I like for use on my whole grain bread dough. I grind my own grain and it tends to make a stickeir dough than store bought flour, so it doesn't stick to the marble as bad, especially if I chill it, which I usually don't bother to do.