Pastry Cutters and Rollers

Use guides rather than judgement. Rolling strips or a pin with removable rings set the thickness mechanically, and the result is repeatable across a shift and across staff.

Turn the dough rather than chasing the thin spots. At any real volume, a pastry sheeter does it faster and more consistently than anyone with a pin.

A straight, heavy commercial rolling pin with no handles for most laminated and pie work, because you roll with the palms and the weight does the job. Handled pins with bearings suit long rolls and are easier on the wrists.

Tapered French pins give more feel for thin, delicate work. Material, length and diameter are listed per product with the rest of our specifications information.

Wood has grip and holds a dusting of flour well, which suits most pastry. Stainless pastry rollers stay cool, which is the reason they are preferred for puff and other laminated doughs where you are trying not to melt the butter layers.

Non-stick and plastic pins suit sticky, high-hydration or sugar doughs. Wooden pins are the ones to keep away from a commercial dishwasher.

They need a true, clean edge. A blunt or rolled edge drags the dough instead of cutting it, which seals the layers shut and stops laminated pastry rising at the cut edge.

Press straight down and lift straight up rather than twisting. Twisting is what seals the edge and distorts the shape.

Plain edges for pie lids, tart bases and anything that will be sealed or filled, because a plain dough cutter edge presses together cleanly. Fluted edges are for scones, biscuits and presentation work where the crimp is part of the look.

Most benches hold a nested set of each. Buy the set rather than single sizes, because the size you are missing is always the one the recipe calls for.

It cuts a long, continuous line without lifting, which is what you want for lattice strips, ravioli and trimming a sheet to size. A knife has to be lifted and repositioned, and every lift is a chance to pull the dough out of line.

Fluted wheels give a crimped edge in the same pass. For portioning baked product rather than raw dough, use a pastry knife instead.

Washed and dried immediately, with attention to the inside of a cutter where dough collects. Dried dough in a cutter is what makes the next cut untidy.

Check before putting wooden rollers near a commercial dishwasher — the heat splits wood and loosens bearings. Most metal cutters are fine.

Cutters in a divided container rather than loose, and rollers lying flat or hanging. A loose cutter at the bottom of a drawer gets bent by everything stacked on it and is then useless.

Keep sets together so sizes do not go missing. The kitchen storage boxes range covers the divided containers.