An Interesting Small Rolling Pin

As an avid baker, I am kind of persnickety about the tools I use when I bake. I want things that will help me do the job fast, with ease, and will last a long time. My rolling pins are no exception to this. In fact I have a rolling pin that my grandmother used to bake with and it is still going strong!

So when I got this rolling pin from Lasten, I was very curious about how it would work for me. The Professional Non-Stick Rolling Pin arrived and my first thought was, "Seriously?" This rolling pin is only 11" long and only about 1" in diameter at the thickest point. It is also very light weight. It is, well, at least I think it is, made from poplar, which is a hard wood, but the softest of the hard woods. Hard wood helps keep bacteria from building up on the rolling pin.

I looked at this little thing and honestly did not think that it would be something I would use very much. And I am right. I doubt I will use it very often. Let me explain why.

The rolling pin is tapered, like many rolling pins are. It is easy to maneuver around on dough and it does an okay job in helping to roll out dough. If I was going to make really small batches of dough for small pastries, this would be a fine rolling pin for that job. But in almost all cases, I make larger sized batches of dough and to roll out what I would need, it would take a while, longer than I would like, using this small pin.

Since the rolling pin is so small there really isn't much umph to it and I feel like I have to press harder than I need to, to do the job rolling out and shaping the dough. One reason why most rolling pins are heavy is to help with that job. The weight helps you smooth out and shape the dough with more ease.

For me, I would rather have one of the larger sized ones they offer for sale (they have 11", 15", 15.7", 17.1", and 19.7"). If they maneuver as well as this small one, they would be good!

The only reason I would be using this rolling pin is for smoothing out fondant and similar things, since I would most likely be using small batches for decorating desserts. This is not a bad rolling pin, just one I would not use myself.

You can purchase the Lasten Professional Non-Stick Rolling Pin HERE!

This reviewer received the product free or at a discounted price in order to bring you an honest review. No other form of compensation was given. All opinions are those of the reviewer.

Artisan Loaves Of Bread Made At Home So Easily!

This time of year I always get a hankering for fresh bread. I think it's because the evenings start to get nice and cool and a slice of warm bread is always a comforting thing when I am chilly.

I love baking bread and shaping the loaves in proofing baskets. It's super easy and I love having unique loaves of bread to share with my family & friends.

Two nice proofing baskets I have recently tried out are from Bread Story. One is for a large 10 Inch Round Banneton and the other is a 10 Inch Oval Banneton.

Both of these proofing baskets are made from handmade, hand-crafted unbleached natural rattan cane that is eco-friendly, food-safe, and non-toxic and can hold up to three pounds of dough. That's a good deal of dough for a good large loaf! The nice thing is, you can also use these to make smaller loaves too.

Both baskets come with a removable cloth liner that you can place the dough on top for a loaf without ring marks, or use to cover the basket as the dough rises to insure that the dough gets shaped to the rings of the basket giving them an artisan look.

The round one also comes with a flexible dough or bowl scraper, and both come with an ebook on baking sourdough bread, baking class discount, instructions, and future coupon to use. The ebook has tips and recipes to help in using these proofing baskets for all kinds of great loaves of bread and how to care for them for continued long-term use.

Using the baskets is easy. When you first get them you need to spray them on the inside with water to get them damp, but not soaking wet. A spritzer kind of bottle sprayer is perfect for this. Then coat the basket inside with a good coating of flour. What this does is "season" the basket to prevent the dough from sticking. You might have to do this once or twice more to get a good layer of flour built up inside the baskets, but it is worth it. The loaves of bread that can be shaped in these are so nice to have for special events and everyday use! If you are careful with these, you can get years of use out of them.

We really enjoy bread made in these proofing baskets. The loaves come out nice and ready bake. They look fantastic sitting on the table ready to serve or with several of these in a basket. Oh and one tied in plastic with a ribbon and card makes a really nice gift!

You can purchase the Bread Story 10 Inch Round Banneton HERE!
You can purchase the Bread Story 10 Inch Oval Banneton HERE!

This reviewer received the product free or at a discounted price in order to bring you an honest review. No other form of compensation was given. All opinions are those of the reviewer.