Since I am older, much older it is harder for me to stand, so I fixed up a place for me to roll my dough on a Rubbermaid tote a big one and topped it with a big wooden cutting board. I can top that then with a Tupperware or similar type mat made for rolling out pie dough. I just rolled out my two pies this morning and now they are both baked. Tomorrow morning, I will do my yeast rolls.

Sue

Why wouldn't any very clean, flat surface work? My countertops are laminate and I use them. I have also used a large wooden cutting board, with either a plastic mat (mine is also an old Tupperware pastry mat) or I have a linen pastry mat as well. Since it is so porous, I'd not be inclined to use wood without a mat.

I was concerned that the dough would stick to the granite, but maybe not. Marilyn Sue gave me a great idea. I just put some heavy objects on the corners of the pastry frame and that seems to work. I can see that I am due for a trip to BB&B to buy something new for dough rolling.

I don't have granite now, but did in last house and always did my pie crust on granite with no pastry sheet, just flour. Worked great for me.

Never have had an issue rolling pastry out on granite and I only use flour , no pastry sheet. The kids gave me a silpat some years ago...I smiled , thanked then and gave it to Goodwill...serious PIA in my view

I use a sheet of waxed paper placed directly on the counter and another one on top of the pastry disk -no flour.

Silpat is invaluable when using cookie sheets/baking cookies. I wouldn't be without it!!

The coolth of the stone will actually help, but if it's very smooth, the pastry might stick . I have too many cultural prohibitions to roll directly on the counter (counters are never kosher, and even though I don't keep kosher, the idea that one needs a pastry board or cloth never leaves me).

Since I got pie rings, I've taken to rolling between layers of plastic wrap, on a silpat to keep them from slipping. This makes rolling out so easy and keeps the flour from going all over. I've also learned to chill the slipat. Even when I wasn't using the pie rings recently, I did the chilled silpat. So much easier than putting ice bags on the counter!

Hm, I have some silpats somewhere. Maybe I should try those, or the waxed paper. Thanks for all the ideas (By the way -- Hi Ruthanna!)

Roll on the granite!...it will be better than fine...I have rolled on a marble slab and it's perfect!....granite would be very similar!
I love my silpat! I don't roll on it but use it for baking...I have worn out one and about worn out another....
Cookies, biscotti bread, rolls....all come up without greasing the pan! Easy clean up!

I have marble and have been rolling on it for almost 30 years.

Waxed paper.

I have quartz countertops, and I roll pie dough directly on that, with flour, and I use a bench scraper to help handle the dough. However, at times I do use Silpat, especially if I think the dough will be too sticky. When making puff pastry, I always make that directly on the quartz. I also have a very large 18x22" Paula Deen pie board that I sometimes use, as it has circles marked on one side of the board for reference. I use that board mainly for cutting pizza, and I bought it before she was disgraced. I did like her cookware as well :(.

Someone on TV recommended using a large rectangular cake lifter for moving pie dough, but I don't have one of those. I don't bake enough cakes to warrant buying that, and I have a smaller round cake lifter anyway, which I use mostly for Okonomiyaki and is somewhat of a pain to store.

I work directly on granite with some flour. I use a dough scraper to slide under the outer edge of the rolled crust to release some sticking and then flip a free edge up around the rolling pin with the scraper. I continue to turn the pin to collect the crust onto the pin (the granite will release the crust) and unroll into the pan.

I will have to try the wax paper, but perhaps I will also try parchment paper as well since I already use it for pizza rolling and transfer to hot stone.

I have had trouble with wax paper crumpling up and not lying flat during the rolling process. Parchment paper is somewhat better, but Silpat does not have this problem at all.

Between Saran Wrap.

I'm another who has granite counters and I roll directly on it dusted with flour.

I’m going to have to make pie crust again soon to try the different methods. Oh too bad — more pie! Thanks everyone

I would love to be able to roll out my pie dough directly on my granite counter. Would that be a mistake?

Granite is like marble - cold

So a granite counter is the perfect place to roll it. Like noted above, just make sure you flour the counter before you roll the dough.

Actually, your counters are room temperature, or in the case where you only run the heating or air for a few hours a day, close to the room temperature that's most prevalent (which could indeed be cold). It's the slickness that makes it feel colder than it is. The coolth. That slickness can make rolling easier without being actually cold.

If the air temperature is above 70° F, chilling the counter can really make it easier. If you're using a marble baking board or a stone counter to roll on, it'll hold temperature well, but you do have to chill it first if you don't have a Winter cold kitchen to get benefit of the cold. I have a friend who keeps the same big bag of ice flat on a shelf in her freezer, so it refreezes as a sheet. Just any old sack of ice will do it.

I should have added that I've used laminated counter tops, granite counter, wood boards and sil-pats for rolling dough. The pastry cloth is my hands down favorite surface for rolling pie crust.

After the cloth gets 'broken in' and impregnated with flour, you need very very little bench flour to roll the crust. A quick shake over the trash can to remove any excess flour and roll the cloth for storage so clean up is very minimal.

Hmmm. I've rolled crust on stainless steel counters, on my current butcher block counter, on laminate, on marble. It all works, in my experience. I also start the edge of the crust over the pin, then roll it onto the pin and into the pan. I used to fold the pastry in quarts, and place the folded crust into the pan, then unfold, that's how Grandma did it, but rolling works really well for me.

I have a couple of silpats that I seldom use, but do use them occasionally for placing chocolate dipped candies to set up, or for those no bake cookies. I know I use them for something else, I just don't remember what. I don't like rolling pie crust on them, it always sticks and the mats slide around on my counter, and I use parchment to bake cookies.

Anyway, roll away on whatever surface you have, it's all good, whatever works for you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Annie

Ci_lantro, I always used a pastry cloth before I got the pie rings, and it worked really well on a chilled counter.

I never thought to chill the cloth, but I would do that now. I recently learned that the answer to all my pastry problems was to chill not only the counter, but all the tools, bowls, ingredients, and the dough mid-way, after setting it in the plate, etc. SO much easier, and no slumping!

Annie, I agree about the pie crust sticking to the silpat, but it doesn't slide on my counter. I don't know what the difference is. I use it to keep everything else from sliding!

I've always used a pastry cloth. It's far easier handling the dough to get it into the baking pan. Less handling with warm hands, the better. I also use a pastry sleeve on my rolling pin.

Floured wax paper over a dish towel for me - makes it easier to clean up & you can pick up the paper w/ the pastry dough on it to move it around while rolling.

& I always fold the dough in quarters so I can more easily center it in the pan.

I bought a Silpat for rolling various kinds of dough (not just pie crusts: scones more than anything else). Maybe I'm using it wrong, but even with liberal amounts of flour, dough sticks. My Mom had one of the old Tupperware pastry sheets, I don't recall her having the same problems with it.

If you smear some water on the counter before putting the Silpat down, it won't slide around.

Plllog, what do you mean by pie rings? Something for rolling dough?

Most of the time, I just chill the dough before rolling it out on a pastry cloth. That's all I need to do in my Wisconsin kitchen. It never gets really hot here...maybe the low '90's for a couple of days in the summer. Combined with the usual humidity, it's not a time that I want to be baking! Mostly I make pies around the winter holidays. The rest of the year, it's some kind of crumble topping that I can make gluten free. The guys expect pecan pies on TDay and at Christmas.

plllog, I don't know how you do it, but my Silpat slides around on my wooden butcherblock counter unless I put a towel under it. It's a regular Silpat, not one of the other brands.

Thanks, Cilantro, I'll try the water trick!

linnea, I don't know what the trick is with Silpat, any dough I try to roll on it sticks and makes a mess, like this pie crust. I was told to just roll on the Silpat, then pick up the Silpat and place the crust in the pan. Yeah......

Annie

I have both a real Silpat brand and some American knock offs. Maybe it's the wood they don't cling to? Because it's not slick enough? They stick (not stuck--lifts fine, but doesn't slide along the plane at all) to my leathered soapstone and my tile. My ridged silicone potholders do too, like when you want to stick a mixing bowl to the counter.

I still have one of those old Tupperware plastic pastry sheets. It's textured, and has enough tooth to hold the flour. I liked being able to lift it and pour off the flour, but didn't look back once I found a good linen pastry cloth It holds the flour much better. My baking board is good too, though I like a pastry cloth better for pie. I frankly don't get how so many of you manage to roll on naked stone and keep the flour where you want it. More skill than I have! I have the same problem with the flour on the silpat. It doesn't stay in place, though I use it for pizza because it's convenient. Annie's wood, I understand. :) One big baking board...

The pie rings are from this thread. Someone(s) had seemingly discovered some new old stock and was selling them off on Amazon and E-Bay. They're great for messy and difficult doughs, and for recipes that are just enough. I have no trouble rolling regular dough right on the flour in a generous recipe and trimming to fit, but my whole wheat crust wants to crack and the rings give me perfect rounds. It's the only way to do the exceedlingly wet GF recipe without about fifty times more skill than I have. :)

I made bagels for the first time ever last weekend. I make bread all the time on my regular old formica? countertop. But I had a heck of a time rolling the dough into a rope, it didn't want to stick enough to the counter so I could roll it out. I ended up by using my wooden cutting board and it seemed to work.

annie1992, I don't get the use for the Silpat. It doesn't slide on my counter, so in that sense it might be better than what I used before, waxed paper. But like you said, everything sticks to it, even with a liberal coating of flour.

I have a pastry cloth and a knit rolling pin cover. But after tiny bugs got into it, even though it was bagged in plastic, I stopped using it. I really don't want to have to have that sitting in the wash every time I use it.

Linnea56, try putting the Silpat on the counter under the waxed paper, to keep the paper from slipping, or at least not as much.

I have a marble countertops that I use when I'm doing nothing but baking.

When I'm making a meal, and require pastry for it, I use the Silpat because i don't want to accidentally have some other food on the counter while rolling it out.

In my previous house, I had granite and rolled directly on it.

I bought a Silpat a few years ago, and it's still unused. When I made bagels last weekend, after the bagels are formed, they're left to rise for a few minutes then put in simmering water for 30 seconds on each side.

I had a devil of a time getting them off the floured baking sheet or the silpat to put in the water. That's why they were so ill-formed. They stuck no matter what. I keep noodling around wondering what to put them on to lift them up cleanly to put in the water.

Jasdip, I usually just rise bagels on a floured baking sheet, then use a wide metal spatula to move them from the sheet to the water. You're right though, they can stick like crazy and then they're weird shapes when finished. Still delicious though. (grin)

Don't try to rise them on Silpat, it sticks like crazy, even when lightly floured. I like to put them on a baking sheet because then I can move the baking sheet around, from the warm counter spot where they rise best to the stove top where I can slip them right into the water without transporting them individually across the kitchen.

I do use the Silpat when I'm doing things with fondant, although just rolling the big sheet of fondant covering for a cake works pretty well for me right on the wooden surface. The Silpat lets me lift the fondant without tearing it, so depending on the project, that's sometimes helpful.

Annie