Pastry board

[charby]

Does anyone have one? I'm tired of trying to make bread and biscuits in a galley kitchen that my wife thinks we need to have every appliance on the counter. She does this because she doesn't want to bring up things from the basement for the 2 or 3x a year she uses it. I figure I can use the pastry board on top a cold range or over the sink. I'm torn between making an oak one (probably $40 in material and 15 hours of work) or buying a beech/birch/sycamore one for $40-50.

[Brad Johnson]

How about a heavy plastic cutting board? I've seen them as big as 24x36x0.5 at my local restaurant supply. Super cheap, too. Amazon shows to have several in the 18x30x0.5 size for mid-$30 prices.

Brad

[charby]

How about a heavy plastic cutting board? I've seen them as big as 24x36x0.5 at my local restaurant supply. Super cheap, too. Amazon shows to have several in the 18x30x0.5 size for mid-$30 prices.

Brad

Plastic is not wood, textured surface means dough sticking.

[MillCreek]

Before I had granite counters, I had a marble pastry board that lived on the Formica counters, and it doubled as a cutting board and hot cookware trivet.  Perhaps it can live under one of the counter appliances and be pulled out as needed.

[Ben]

I ended up with a pastry mat, since it's easier for me to store.

[charby]

Before I had granite counters, I had a marble pastry board that lived on the Formica counters, and it doubled as a cutting board and hot cookware trivet.  Perhaps it can live under one of the counter appliances and be pulled out as needed.

Mine will go to the basement when not in use, I'm not lazy like my wife. :)

[charby]

I ended up with a pastry mat, since it's easier for me to store.

I have one, I hate the memory of the plastic from being stored rolled up. I need something rigid that I can place over the sink or range.  I have a 1955 galley kitchen.

[Brad Johnson]

Plastic is not wood, textured surface means dough sticking.

Wood is just as textured unless it's been sanded and sealed. Besides, if you have dough sticking to either, you aren't flouring the board suitably.

Brad

[charby]

Wood is just as textured unless it's been sanded and sealed. Besides, if you have dough sticking to either, you aren't flouring the board suitably.

Brad

Wood will be sanded and oiled, just like you're supposed to do.

I don't want plastic, too flexible.

[zxcvbob]

is a 12" square large enough?  Buy a polished marble tile; they are cheap.  Don't know if larger ones are available or if you'd have to get it cut custom.

[cordex]

is a 12" square large enough?  Buy a polished marble tile; they are cheap.  Don't know if larger ones are available or if you'd have to get it cut custom.

12" would be pretty small and many pastry boards also have a downward facing lip to catch on to the edge of the countertop to hold the board in place as you knead away.  Also they often have an upward facing lip on the far side to keep stuff from flying off the back of the board.

Charby,

I say build it - not because it would be the most efficient way of obtaining one, but because it would be a nice cold-weather project, and would let you design it to fit your needs.

[charby]

is a 12" square large enough?  Buy a polished marble tile; they are cheap.  Don't know if larger ones are available or if you'd have to get it cut custom.

No, not big enough as Cordex explained.

[charby]

12" would be pretty small and many pastry boards also have a downward facing lip to catch on to the edge of the countertop to hold the board in place as you knead away.  Also they often have an upward facing lip on the far side to keep stuff from flying off the back of the board.

Charby,

I say build it - not because it would be the most efficient way of obtaining one, but because it would be a nice cold-weather project, and would let you design it to fit your needs.

I'm leaning that way, just wish I could source beech or sycamore boards locally.

[charby]

This is what they look like, this one is made from maple.

[zxcvbob]

I'm leaning that way, just wish I could source beech or sycamore boards locally.

Check with the lumbermill in Preston, MN.  (I assume they are still there, it's been about 20 years since I've been by there)  That's kinda local for you ain't it?  I know they have (had) sugar maple, walnut, elm, hackberry, and others.  Hackberry would be an interesting wood for this; it's dense but porous, but you're going to seal and finish it anyway so porosity might be good.  And they might sell sycamore.

12" marble tiles work good for biscuits and pie crusts. (14" would be way better)  Might be a little too small for bread, plus it will slide around.  But for a $4 solution...

[charby]

Check with the lumbermill in Preston, MN.  (I assume they are still there, it's been about 20 years since I've been by there)  That's kinda local for you ain't it?  I know they have (had) sugar maple, walnut, elm, hackberry, and others.  Hackberry would be an interesting wood for this; it's dense but porous, but you're going to seal and finish it anyway so porosity might be good.  And they might sell sycamore.

12" marble tiles work good for biscuits and pie crusts. (14" would be way better)  Might be a little too small for bread, plus it will slide around.  But for a $4 solution...

Google says the lumber mill is there. I need to see if they sell planed lumber since I don't own a planer nor have room for one.

You don't seal it, you oil it like a butcher block or wooden cutting board with food grain mineral oil. If you poly it on all sides, the seams will crack with the weather changes/humidity, if you use vegetable oil it will eventually go rancid.

[K Frame]

I, too, have a galley kitchen, and I have fought the appliance creep. But, being single, I'm a bit better at keeping it in check.

I've gone a different direction with pastry... I use a floured, fine weave cloth on the counter. Absolutely zero sticking. Not tremendous for kneading, but it's fantastic for rolling cookies, pie dough, etc.

[charby]

I, too, have a galley kitchen, and I have fought the appliance creep. But, being single, I'm a bit better at keeping it in check.

I've gone a different direction with pastry... I use a floured, fine weave cloth on the counter. Absolutely zero sticking. Not tremendous for kneading, but it's fantastic for rolling cookies, pie dough, etc.

I have thought about a flour sack cloth stapled to a sheet a plywood, like 1930s style. Yea, if I could remove my wife, my house would make a kickass bachelor pad.

[K Frame]

Use a cloth held in place with binder clips. Easy to wash.

Sent from my SM-G981U using Tapatalk

[charby]

I ended up ordering a 18x24" over the counter birch one for $64 (marked down from $99). I checked out what oak (and other hardwood) was available locally and I didn't like the grain. By the time I drove to and from the sawmill Bob talked about I'd have $40-$50 in fuel spent in my truck. I don't have a planer or joiner (yet), so this was the most practical way to have one.

Il est temps de préparer les biscuits.

[K Frame]

Oh, and if you go the cloth route?

Invest in a masking tape lint roller.

Does a much better job of picking up the dog hair that invariably attaches to the cloth...