If you have been cooking without a tapered French rolling pin in your kitchen, you have been working way too hard! There are several types of rolling pins but this style makes rolling out dough much easier and can save you time. Here is how you use it.

How do you use a tapered French rolling pin? Once you have your dough ready to roll out, place the palm of your hand directly on the center of your French rolling pin. Apply pressure and gently roll it back and forth. You can also use the two hand method. Find the center of your pin and place your hands so they are about five inches apart. Put your hands on the pin and put your fingers straight out.  The shape of the rolling pin makes it easy to pivot your dough any direction you need to go. Easily guide your rolling pin with your hand rolling it to the left and then to the right. Roll up and down.

Whether you are a seasoned baker or just beginning, every kitchen needs certain tools to make cooking in the kitchen more efficient and successful. There is no way around it. Food can bring comfort to you and your family. There is nothing more rewarding than treating those you love to a good home baked meal. Having the tool you need at the ready to prepare the dishes you want to make can make cooking much more enjoyable. 

A French tapered rolling pin would be one of those tools. Knowing how to use it will help the things you create in the kitchen to bake successfully and make you a more confident baker. Cookie dough, pizza, cinnamon rolls, pie crust, calzones, these types of doughs will need to be rolled out. Let’s get started! Grab your French rolling pin. (Ever wondered is a French rolling pin really French? Why yes it is!) There are two hand methods for rolling out dough you can choose from. It works to trade back and forth with when rolling out your dough.

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How To Roll Out Dough With Your French Rolling Pin

Dough

One Hand method:

Depending whether you are right handed or left handed take your dominant hand and place it directly in the center. Then roll the dough gently with the pin. Even out the dough as you go and maneuver your rolling pin up, down, sideways, diagonal whatever way you need the pin to go to make your dough even and completely rolled out to the size you desire. Work with the pin and make it work for you. Get a feel for it until you are comfortable with it.  You can trade off with the hand method so read on for the easy how to.

Two Hand Method:

Find the center of your pin. Place each hand on each side of the center of the pin so there is about five inches in between both of your hands. Put your hands straight out and press down. Don’t grab the ends. This gives you more control and your hands won’t brush the dough or get in the way of the rolling pin. Roll the pin back and forth with your hands. Once again, start rolling gently press down as hard as you need to. Let your hands guide the pin where you need it to roll. The rolling pin should be pretty easy to use and to get your dough the size and shape you want it to be.

You can definitely switch back and forth between using the one hand or two hand methods. Both can give you the control you need to roll out your dough evenly and easily. Love how easy it is to guide your pin on the dough. Using a French rolling pin really does make your life easier when it comes to making and baking dough in the kitchen!

Many pastry chefs choose a French rolling pin as their choice of pin when rolling dough out. You’ll probably be surprised how fast you can learn to use this type of pin and how very easy it is to use it. 

Need a special gift for a friend who is moving into a new home or apartment? Worry no more! Give a beautiful French rolling pin as a housewarming gift. They will love it! Every time they use it they will think of your thoughtfulness.

 

 

Related Questions

Is a French rolling pin better? You know how they say “the proof is in the pudding”? Well you may not be able to tell how much easier and better to use it is until you actually use  one of these. Here are the arguments for why this type of pin is better. 

  1. A French rolling pin is easier to clean. There are no nooks or crannies for dough to hide in and hard to get out. 
  2. There are no attached ends that will come off or fall off when you use it. It is easy to clean and care for. 
  3. Most important!!!! It is so easy to guide and maneuver on your dough.
  4. I would venture so far as to say that it can also save you time in the kitchen when baking food that requires rolling out the dough.

Can you use oil on a rolling pin? Yes! Absolutely! I am referring to a French wooden rolling pin when telling how to use oil on it. After each use, take your rolling pin and oil it with your hands. Place some canola or vegetable oil (be careful not to use oil that will go rancid.) in your hands and work the oil into your French rolling pin. If you purchase a hardwood rolling pin, and you take good care of it right after each use, it will wear well! You can even display it on a kitchen counter or open shelf.  There are beautiful Celtic knot rolling pins that look amazing displayed in your kitchen and you can use them just the same as a regular sugar maple or mahogany wood french rolling pin.

Can you wash a rolling pin? Since wood is considered by many to be the best choice of material for a French rolling pin to be made of, and my baking experience is with a wooden pin my answer to this question deals with a wooden pin.  After using your French rolling pin, it may be covered with a little dough or flour. So should you wash it? The answer is yes but you should take care to wash it correctly. All you need to do is wipe it off with a damp cloth and then as mentioned above you can add oil to make it fresh again. Washing your rolling pin incorrectly can ruin the wood finish. My husband is an experienced French rolling pin maker. Once he finishes a pin, he takes food grade mineral oil and works it into the wood giving it a nice finish which also helps to cure the wood. As the mineral oil soaks into the wood,  it dries a matte color. Water washes the mineral oil finish off and may dry out your pin so it is more susceptible to cracking and leaves your pin unprotected. I made the mistake of using water on one of my pins and the wood began to look blotchy and uneven due to the water. Never put the rolling pin in the dishwasher though.