by Janette Waldron

Created on: November 11, 2010   Last Updated: November 14, 2010

It happens to the best of cooks sooner or later. The pie dough sticks to the rolling pin and often the dough board as well. This is frustrating indeed. It often has the cook tearing their hair out trying to separate the dough from the rolling pin without shredding the dough. Yet there are simple solutions for this problem. First and foremost, one needs to have the right consistency for their dough. One needs to use pastry dough as this has the better structure and desired flakiness. Use regular hydrogenated shortening as it gives a more plastic type consistency and makes working with the dough so much easier.

But even with these tips your dough could end up too moist. It’s not always the rolling pin which causes the problems, as many people mistakenly think. As long as your rolling pin is smooth and well balanced without any dents, it is usually the consistency of the dough and nothing more. If your dough is sticking to your rolling pin, pop the rolling pin into the freezer for a few minutes. This helps the dough to firm up and detach itself without the need to scrape the dough off with a knife. Wait for the rolling pin to chill then try removing the dough. It should come off without any problems.

Now wait until the dough from the rolling pin is at room temperature. Pop the rolling pin back into the freezer for another two minutes. Take the rolling pin from the freezer and dust it with a light coating of flour. See if the dough sticks now. Other times you may simply need a little sprinkle of flour to the pastry and all will be well. Pie dough needs to be relatively elastic so add a very small amount of flour at a time. If you add too much flour you will end up with a pie which is all pastry and nothing more. This will make your pie heavy and have you altering its consistency altogether. The pie will end up tasting like an old leather boot.

Wooden rolling pins are almost a thing of the past now and a host of professional chefs prefer to use glass, metal, marble and silicon rolling pins. Many types of rolling pins allow you to fill them with water. This aids in getting the right density when you wish to have a pie crust of a particular thickness. These type of rolling pins are the better option as many are of the non-stick variety. Sometimes dough sticks to the rolling pin because the fats, butter or margarine you add is too warm. All these need to be at room temperature prior to adding to your dough. This can crack your pie dough as well making it look

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