Marble Rolling Pins

Use marble rolling pins to make bread or for making pastry. You'll never go back to wooden rolling pins.

You can buy a marble rolling pin online. If you are going to do any type of serious pastry baking, marble rolling pins are a great piece of gourmet kitchenware to have. You can get them in many weights and prices. Some consumers will buy a Martha Stewart marble rolling pin because they know they'll need one. Others stumble on them when they borrow someone else's and found it to be the perfect kitchen gadget. Before buying one, the important question to ask yourself is "how often will I be doing cooking that requires it?" Your answer to that question will determine which pin you should buy.

Make Bread

Traditional rolling pins are made from various types of wood. They are used for bread, pie crusts, cookie dough, and various sweet desserts. You'll find them light in the hand and therefore light on the dough. Marble rolling pins are heavy. For those who think that they are too heavy, remember that for this culinary tool, weight is the whole idea. The weight of the pin applies pressure to the dough, so your hands do less work when you make flat Syrian or pita breads on your mat. They also do a better job in making thinner sheets of dough. In addition, some recipes for no-bake cakes that call for large quantities of crushed or even pulverized nuts and cookies. A marble rolling pin is easier on your wrists. Your regular light-weight pin is just not going to work. If you feel that the finish is not smooth enough, just spray the marble rolling pin with oil before you start combining your ingredients.

Making Pastry

When cooking tart shells or other butter-based pastries, maintaining a dough's consistency and keeping cold butter bits intact so they can create essential flakiness is critical. For a truly professional pastry, working with refrigerated dough is not enough. A traditional rolling pin creates friction, and thus heat. That's the value of this great kitchen utensil. The marble rolling pin's natural coolness (in addition to storing it in the refrigerator) means those butter bits don't melt and the dough doesn't stick to the pin.

French Rolling Pins

Some marble rolling pins have steel or nylon ball bearings to ensure smooth rolling with minimal effort. Other models are shaped like French wooden rolling pins, with tapered ends. But the most commonly available designs have wooden handles and a 10 inch marble barrel. Some also come with a nice wooden stand for storage, which is a great feature.

Marble rolling pins are easy to maintain. To clean them, simply wipe off crumbs or flour with a slightly moist cloth as soon as you're done rolling, and definitely before storing the pin. You will want to store your pin in a place it will not roll off. It could damage kitchen flooring … or a toe. Emeril Lagasse would probably advise home chefs to store a marble rolling pin in the refrigerator, not the cupboard. That way it will always be ready when you need it.

Buy Rolling Pins Online

Most marble rolling pins available today are either white, gray with some veins of blue, or charcoal with veins of white. The color of the marble has no effect on its performance. But it's a personal preference. The cost is affected by the quality of both the marble and the wood used in the handles. Marble rolling pins are not cheap. So don't expect to get it for the same price as your old wooden rolling pin. You can shop around for marble rolling pin at Williams Sonoma or RSVP International.