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We researched over 30 of the best rolling pins on the market and purchased 9 of the top models to test head-to-head. We looked at the effectiveness of each pin and determined how well each product performed when faced with the stickiest of doughs, how well they maneuvered to create a perfect circle, and how versatile they are for various applications. We judged how easy it is to clean up those stickiest of doughs, how their size factors into performance, and how well they fit in the smallest of kitchen drawers. We've rolled out a solid selection of different styles and brands to help you land on the right model for your needs and budget.
The Ultra Cuisine Professional French Pin proved to be the best overall product we tested. Its simple shape and unique material make it hard to beat. It is easily storable in any kitchen drawer as it is not excessively long or thick, and it is super easy to clean. You can even stick it in the dishwasher, something that can't be said for wooden pins. The slight taper on either side of the pin makes it easily maneuverable, and the stainless steel surface keeps the dough from sticking excessively, especially after it's chilled in the freezer or fridge.
The Ultra Cuisine Professional French Pin might have a foreign aesthetic if you are looking for a product with a more traditional appearance. The stainless steel doesn't have the same homey feel that a wooden one might, but the material also makes it incredibly versatile and effective. Those seeking a traditional pin with handles should check out our favorite, the J.K. Adams 12-Inch Maple.
Using the Ultra Cuisine Professional French Rolling Pin to make dumpling wrappers.
The Karryoung French Tapered Pin outperforms other products more than twice its price and looks good doing it. This little dowel has a lovely tapered shape, making it easy to use. It is long enough to roll a pie crust but doesn't take up too much room in a kitchen drawer. This pin is also one of the least sticky pins we tested and is aesthetically pleasing to the eye. If you're looking for something suitable for everything at a reasonable price, look no further.
The Karryoung French Tapered Pin is on the thinner side, making transferring pie dough somewhat challenging but certainly not impossible. This is a great all-around option that will get the job done if you're just not ready to commit to an expensive pie pin. However, our favorite dowel pin (and overall favorite) is the Ultra Cuisine Professional French, which is only a few bucks more.
The Wooden Roll French Rolling Pin is about as simple and effective as it gets.
Unfinished surface helps prevent dough from sticking
Rolls smoothly
2-inch dowel width
Made in the USA
REASONS TO AVOID
Cumbersome in your kitchen drawer
The J.K. Adams 12-Inch Maple Pin was the best pie pin with handles. This pin has self-lubricating bearings to keep it rolling smoothly, an unfinished surface to keep from sticking, is a good size and weight for rolling and moving pie dough, and is beautiful to boot. Like the J.K. Adams dowel, the unfinished surface texture helps keep the stickiest of doughs under control, making it a contender for the best pie pin. This is a decent choice if you prefer handles on your pie pin, as they are sturdy, and we found that there was enough space between the countertop and the handles that we could wrap our fingers all the way around.
The primary disadvantage of the J.K. Adams Maple Pin is that it's not easy to store. Due to the length and depth of the dowel, this rolling pin is hard to fit into a shallow drawer. Even in deeper drawers, we found it takes up a lot of space. That said, the J.K. Adams Maple Pin is an excellent option for those who prefer displaying this beauty on the countertop or have space to spare. The Farberware Classic Wood is a decent alternative with handles, although it has a shorter rolling length of 10 inches.
This model is great for flattening a dumpling wrapper, but pie dough is its true forte.
Our favorite wooden rolling pin was the Bamber Wood Pin. We believe the secret to this pin's success is in its simplicity. The Bamber Pin did not outshine the rest with any single feature but instead proved its usefulness with its versatility across the board. It is long enough to transport pie dough and thin enough not to be too cumbersome or to take up too much room in a kitchen drawer. It is beautifully made, and a quick rinse in the sink cleans it right up. This pin will work for you whether you are a frequent cookie baker or the once in a blue moon tart maker.
The Bamber Wood Pin wasn't perfect on the stickiest pie dough we tested; it stuck more than we would've liked. However, with a touch more flour, the Bamber pin was back on top. Aside from the need for a decent amount of flour, this product is an excellent option for any home baking you could hope to get into.
An up-close look at the Bamber Wood Rolling Pin's slick surface texture.
If you are an avid pie maker on the hunt for the perfect rolling pin, look no further than the J.K. Adams Dowel Pin. This American-made product managed to catch the attention of the New York Times and the Food Network with its beautiful and functional simplicity. It was one of our favorites as well. It has an unfinished surface texture to keep super sticky pie dough under control, making it the least sticky pin, and the 2" by 19" dowel is perfect for picking up a large and delicate pie crust. It was surprisingly easy to maneuver, and we could wash off sticky dough easily with a quick rinse. With its length, width, and surface texture, we found no other model to parallel this pin's pie dough finesse.
If the J.K. Adams Dowel Pin wasn't so big, it certainly would have taken the top spot. Although it fits in a kitchen drawer, it hogs quite a bit of storage space, which can be problematic in small kitchens where space is at a premium. If you prefer baking cookies or have limited space, this pin's girth and length would probably be unnecessary. However, this pin is perfect if you have room and frequently enjoy a good pie bake.
The J.K. Adams Dowel lies on the cutting board after being used to roll out a dumpling wrapper while it gets stuffed.
Rings restrict how big you can roll out your dough
Not very maneuverable
If you need your cookies to be the same size, the Quellance Stainless Steel Adjustable Pin is the pin for you. It has a great adjustable feature with which you can choose the depth of your dough. Just select the correct ring size, and bam — all your sugar cookies will be exactly as the recipe asks, ¼ inch thick. Our favorite part about this feature is that there is virtually no chance you will roll your dough too thin and have to start over. This pin has easy-to-use screws with four different size rings that can all go in the dishwasher when you're done. It even comes with a silicone mat with measurements and conversions so that when you're done making your perfect sugar cookies, you can just transfer your mess to the sink. This product can make the baking process fun, engaging, and it could keep your kitchen clean at the same time.
We found that the Quellance Stainless Steel Adjustable Pin could be on the sticky side when working with pie dough and was not easily maneuverable. Because of the adjustment rings at the end of the pin, the size of the piece of dough you roll out is limited. It could also be hard to keep track of all the pieces if you don't keep them together.
The Quellance used without its adjustable rings on the silicone mat it is delivered with.
If you're on the hunt for a pin with handles that stores fairly easily, the Farberware Classic Wood Pin is a solid choice. It has no issues rolling and works well with less sticky dough. We love that this pin has a hole in one of the handles, so it can easily be hung instead of stuffed in a drawer. This unique feature makes this pin one of the more storable products.
Right out of the box, we had our doubts about the Farberware Classic Wood Pin. We immediately noticed a pungent chemical odor and that the rod running through the center of the barrel that attaches to the handles was slightly bent, leading us to believe you should avoid this model if you need a workhorse of a rolling pin. Also, Farberware advertises 17.5 inches, but that includes the handles. The actual barrel length is only 10 inches, making it one of the shorter options we reviewed. The smell faded after a day, and the pin rolled smoothly despite the bent rod. Overall, this pin ended up performing decently well.
For some, a classic wooden-handled pin is the only way to go. We are impressed with the performance of some of the metal options.
We found that the pin best for kids was the Nasnaioll Silicone Pin, not only because it is colorful but also because it is small and lightweight. This pin did a great job rolling out less sticky dough and easily fits into any drawer. In addition to being small, light, and colorful, this pin has the benefit of being machine washable, making it the perfect pick for any play-doh clean-up or cookie madness. It can be placed on the top shelf of a dishwasher for quick and easy clean-up.
Although the Nasnaioll Silicone Pin is easy to store and works great rolling out cookies, we would not recommend trying to do any pie baking with this little guy. When trying to roll out pie dough, this pin was one of the most challenging as it seemed there was no way to keep the dough from gluing to the sides. This pie pin would be great fun as a kid's toy or if you are only planning on making sugar cookies with it.
Its beautiful and unique marble barrel is what initially drew us to test the Fox Run Marble Pin. It looks great in its own stand on the counter, but you wouldn't want to throw it in a drawer for fear it might crack the barrel or break the handles.
Not only was the Fox Run Marble Pin one of the priciest options we reviewed, but it also had the worst performance. It advertises a self-lubricating bearing, but we found it just wouldn't roll no matter what we were rolling out. The rod seemed to be sticking to the inside of the pin. The inability to roll combined with the incredibly heavy pin makes it the stickiest and least maneuverable model we tested.
This model looks great in the kitchen but is heavy and pretty cumbersome to use.
Credit: Matt Bento
Why Trust GearLab
We started the review process by researching the most popular and highly recommended rolling pins, then choosing the top ten contenders to battle it out on a field composed of pie dough, cookie dough, and dumpling wrappers. We tested each of the products for stickiness on each of the three different doughs. We considered maneuverability and how easy they are to use. We made sure to assess how easy they are to clean and store, and lastly, we scrutinized how aesthetically pleasing each of these rolling pins is. Using the data we collected, we can organize these top contenders from the best overall to the best at one application.
Lead tester Daniel Dolan has been baking ever since he discovered the wonder of cookie dough in his early pre-teen years. After discovering the fun and delicious pastime, he slowly started to expand his baking horizons from cookies to cheesecakes to pie. Daniel's favorite dessert is pie. Although he would argue that cheesecake is his favorite pie, he has spent a fair amount of time perfecting his strawberry rhubarb and peach blueberry pies for his friends and family. Daniel is always excited to use his baking prowess to help you decipher the good from the bad and find the best tools for your baking experience.
Analysis and Test Results
We relied heavily on the testing process to determine the standing of each product. Our team made sure to test the products on three different types of dough to showcase each pin's strengths and weaknesses. While rolling out the pie dough, cookie dough, and dumpling dough, we paid attention to how easy each product was to maneuver and use, how much of the dough stuck to the pins, and the general aesthetic of each product.
A comparison of the four french rolling pins we tested. Left to Right: J.K. Adams Dowel, Karryoung French Tapered, Ultra Cuisine Professional French, Bamber Wood Rolling Pin.
Credit: Matt Bento
Stickiness
Considering the most important qualities of a good baking pin, we found stickiness to be number one. During our testing, we discovered that no matter how pretty the pin was or how unique it seemed, if the dough stuck, it was no fun to use. Of the doughs we used to test the products, the pie dough was by far the stickiest and was, for the most part, the determining factor of stickiness.
One of our least sticky rolling pins, the J.K. Adams Dowel Rolling Pin in action.
Credit: Matt Bento
The two pins that were the best at mitigating doughy adhesion were the J.K. Adams Dowel Pin and the J.K. Adams Maple Wood Gourmet Pin. J.K. Adams makes their products with an unfinished surface, which caused a noticeable difference when working with the stickiest doughs.
The weight and the stiff bearing on the Fox Run Marble pin makes it one of the stickiest of any we tested.
Credit: Matt Bento
Ease of Use
Ease of use is a close second to stickiness as it considers aspects like maneuverability and functionality. The most user-friendly pins were the Karryoung French Tapered Pin and the Ultra Cuisine Professional French Pin. The French pins were the easiest to use because of their shape and simplicity. The slight taper at the end of the barrels allows for plenty of maneuverability, and their simple one-piece design keeps things from getting complicated.
The easily maneuverable Wooden Roll French Rolling Pin
Credit: Matt Bento
Cleaning
Because most baking pins are made with wood, they usually are required to be hand washed. We wanted to make sure that it's easy enough to wash off in the sink if you are working with sticky dough. Although all the products turned out to do well in this category, some have a distinct advantage due to their materials or texture. The Ultra Cuisine Professional French Pin took first place not only because dough slides off of it with ease but also because you can stick it in the dishwasher if you so desire. The Bamber Wood Pin was also easy to clean due to its smooth, hard surface texture.
Easy cleaning is paramount for keeping your kitchen in tin tip-top shape.
Credit: Matt Bento
Size
Depending on what you want out of your pie pin, size preferences may vary. Bigger rolling pins tend to be better at rolling out pie dough, whereas smaller pins fit seamlessly into a drawer. When we looked at the size of the products, we decided to consider the length and width, the weight, and ultimately how easily it can be stored without compromising the effectiveness of the pin.
A shot of the Farberware Classic Wood Rolling Pin in action
Credit: Matt Bento
The baking pins that topped out this metric are the Farberware Classic Wood, the Bamber Wood, and the Ultra Cuisine Professional French. These products fit easily into a kitchen drawer or utensil stand without compromising the pin's functionality.
Aesthetics
The last thing we considered for each pin was aesthetics. Let's face it: if you like the way your pie pin looks, you'll probably like your pie pin that much more. This metric did not rely so much on science as it did on general opinion. The prettiest products, according to our team, were the J.K. Adams Maple, the Fox Run Marble, and the Bamber Wood. These pins had the cleanest and most beautiful builds.
Despite the classic aesthetic of wooden pins, we are super impressed with the steel model and highly recommend it.
Credit: Matt Bento
Conclusion
Throughout the testing, we found that most of the products excelled in their own niche, making it hard to decipher any one winner, and making it clear knowing as much as possible about what you want out of your next pin is very important. We did the testing and comparisons to help you discover crucial aspects of each pin and give you a better picture of which pin would best fit your baking and cooking style. We hope that this review has been helpful in your search for the best rolling pin for your lifestyle.
