I've never had a pie crust stick to a wooden pin. This may be the trick. I've never had it in water. Always flour it and wipe it off after use.

I just purchased a silicone rolling pin from BB&B. Haven't had occasion to use it yet. It is replacing my marble one I have had for years. The marble is getting to be too heavy and even though I flour it, everything always sticks to it.

I am anxious to try out the new rolling pin. I heard about it on the Melinda Lee cooking show a few weeks back.

If the silicon molds are any comparison...I'd not count on the silicon rolling pin to be nonstick. I also never put my wood one in water and it's fairly nonstick...if something's sticking, it's probably 'cause I've either not chilled something properly or the dough's too loose to begin with. For pie crust, I even toss my rolling pin in the freezer for half an hour before rolling while the dough's chillin' out.

If you use a stockinette cover on your regular wooden rolling pin, dough will not stick.

A pastry cloth and rolling pin cover are pastry essentials in my book. They work better than any of the various gimicks and alternatives out there. And at less than $5 you can't beat the price either.

A little tip on using a pastry cloth and cover. Don't wash it. Ever. Just fold it up and keep it in a zip-loc in the freezer between uses. No off flavors that way and the flour is so worked into the fibers that it is even likely to stick without the use of additional flour.

Marymd7 - where do I find a rolling pin cover and pastry cloth??

Ken

I got mine in my regular supermarket. It's one of the millions of things they sell that you never notice until you look for it.

Barbara

Ken, as Barbara says, you can often find them in grocery stores, but you can certainly find them in any kitchen store. In fact, if you google "pastry cloth and rolling pin cover" you'll pull up all sorts of links for ordering one on-line.

Thanks! I'll see how that 'raised awareness' thing works out. I know exactly what you are talking about. Kinda scary all the things that you never see until you are looking for them. (then you see nothing but!)

I knew I could google it but I'd rather find someplace local (until I go for something really exotic that I know I won't find here)

Thanks again,

Ken

We use a wooden pin, and it does just fine and doesn't stick. If your dough sticks, it needed more flour.

Talking about raised awareness, reviews of rolling pins are now everywhere I look! First I saw a mention of the silicone ones in the New York Times. The reviewer was reviewing a bunch of new gadgets, especially silicone ones, and said that "a new silicone rolling pin, heavy enough to brain an elf, rolled out the dough in just four strokes."

The Wall Street Journal reviewed rolling pins in yesterday's paper. The reviewer pointed out the problem with silicone - it's very static-electricity prone and lint and dust stick to it like crazy. I've noticed that with my silicone pot holders.

The best revew went to a $15 wooden rolling pin made by Vic Firth. (Yes - the drum stick maker - he now makes cooking gadgets.) It has tapered ends; no handles.

The reviewer wasn't crazy about the glass rolling pin he tested. It froze his hands, and was a potential shattered-glass nightmare.

As for the marble one, he thought it could break a toe if you ever dropped it. (Not to mention a floor tile.)

Anyway, RDWright, if you are stilled bored with your old wooden rolling pin, even after getting a new cloth cover, you should check out that Vic Firth pin. It looks really nice. In fact, I've convinced myself to get one myself, and I hardly ever even bake.

Barbara

Thanks to all who wrote in. I like my wooden one as well. I decided to get my wife a marble one made by Vic Firth. A little variety never hurt anyone. I am actually an acquaintance of Vic's through the music world, but had no idea he had spread his wings into the kitchen. He's got all sorts of kitchen stuff out there. Looks to be very good quality stuff. His marble rolling pin uses steel berrings, something many of the others do not. Should last a long time. I'll try to keep my toes out of the way ; )

I saw that WSJ article too (The Catalog Critic -- a great column). But they didn't say that Vic Firth had other cool items for sale. Thanks for the heads up, RDWright!

IMO, as with the rest of things idiotic man invents, Silicone bakery items are just not researched enough before they are used in industries and cause much hype over how great they are.

#1 rule that ALWAYS seems to be right as time just keeps ticking and ticking along is: "There's no school like the old school". Good old fashion things are ALWAYS better than new things. The poisons, issues and toxins we try to avoid from the old stuff, then always invent something "better", seem to always be less harmful than the new ones we create from the newer items we made trying to avoid that very thing !! LOL

Bottom line is Silicone implants caused MAJOR issues amongst women if their implants ever broke, and even if they didn't. As with ANY other chemical out there, silicone has a off gas. I don't care if they say it don't. It DOES. And one day I am positive they will find out it has been contaminating the food it comes in contact with. PERIOD.

Similar to BPA in plastics, PFOA, PTFE, PFIB, MFA, TFE, and the 10 other deadly toxins Teflon off gasses including one that is the analog of a WWII NERVE GAS, silicone is just the same thing as far as - its a laboratory man made CHEMICAL based thing, and as with everything else we thought was cool in the kitchen like plastics and Teflon, it too will come to surface its toxins in our food soon and we will all feel like idiots yet again.

So for me, I am staying away from it. I have learned my lesson for the last time. There's no school like the old school. I'm safer with butter from a cow, than margarine from a lab, I'm safer with sugar from the natural cane than a man made sweetener from a lab as they BOTH cause cancer and tons of other issues. So I will say, wood, marble and stainless steel are ALL better than silicone. For sure, 100% no doubt in my mind.