Well, in the bakery shops, beech and hard/sugar maple are the most common ones found. I would not use any that are made from an 'open grained' wood, and that includes walnut. As for what sells best, one can never tell, and that kind of goes with 'what is a 'French' rolling pin'? I have seen rolling pins from about 3 inches long which are for pot sticker skins, to a mattarello which is for pasta and about 3 feet long. To me, a 'French' style rolling pin is one that is a straight taper from the center out to the ends, maybe 2+ inches in the center and an inch on the ends. This makes it easier to put more pressure on one side than the other, which can be handy for rolling out pie dough. Another variation is a cylinder with parallel sides and the ends are rolled over/rounded/tapered. As near as I can tell, any rolling pin without handles on it is considered 'French'. Another rolling pin I sold a number of was called a 'Palote', which is traditional Mexican for rolling out tortillas. Dads would make them for their daughters. They are about 9 inches or so long, and some are straight cylinders, some are the tapered from the center out to the ends. I tend to have several of all of them. The one mattarello I did make, for personal use, I took a maple baseball blank and turned it down several times over about 6 months because wood moves. It has stayed straight for now. Prices from maybe $10 to $100 for the mattarello if I was to sell one.
Many times I have had a couple come in to look at the rolling pins, and one will pick it up and smack it against their hand a few times while looking at their partner. I tell them, "no, it can't be used for that, all you would do is put some dents in that beautiful piece of wood'. It always gets a smile.
I seem to remember a Vermont Rolling Pin company, but couldn't find it. I would think a retail store like that might have more accurate pricing than ETSY.
robo hippy
