Brod & Taylor Dough Sheeter: Transforming Home Laminated Pastry
Effortless lamination and bakery-grade pastry results become part of your routine.
Brod & Taylor Dough Sheeter: A Home Baker’s New Best Friend
Professional-quality laminated doughs—like croissants, puff pastry, and Danish—often seem daunting for home bakers. Traditional hand rolling is labor-intensive, imprecise, and can yield inconsistent results. Enter Brod & Taylor’s Dough Sheeter, a manual appliance aimed at simplifying lamination for home kitchens. This article explores what the sheeter does, how it performs, and whether it earns a spot in your baking arsenal.
What Is the Brod & Taylor Dough Sheeter?
The Brod & Taylor Dough Sheeter is a manual tool designed to roll dough to even thicknesses using a set of cranked rollers. It’s compact, affordable compared to commercial-grade equipment, and engineered for home kitchen counters. With its adjustable thickness settings and broad rolling surface, the sheeter claims to make lamination quicker, easier, and more precise for pastry, pizza, and pasta doughs.
- Ten thickness settings:Adjustable from 0mm to 17.5mm for thin or thick results.
- Board size:23.5 x 12 inches for rolling, with a double-sided design (nonstick for dough, rigid for cutting).
- Lightweight and easy storage:Weighing just 10.5 lbs and collapsible to fit standard kitchen shelves.
- Manual crank:No electricity required—just classic hand power.
How Does Laminating Dough Normally Work?
Laminated dough involves layering butter within dough—a technique fundamental to pastries like croissants and Danish. Achieving consistent, thin layers by hand is laborious. Common pitfalls include uneven thickness, torn dough, and long resting times between rolling steps. Professional bakeries use large electric sheeters for speed and precision, but these are costly and impractical for home kitchens.
Common Problems with Hand Lamination
- Inconsistent thickness, affecting rise and texture.
- Difficulty restraining butter leaks or dough tears.
- Slower workflow, with frequent pauses to keep dough cold and workable.
- Physical fatigue from repetitive rolling.
Unboxing and Setup
The Brod & Taylor Dough Sheeter arrives mostly pre-assembled. Setup is intuitive: snap the roller arms onto the board, select your roller thickness, and you’re ready to go.
- Assembly:No tools required; parts click into place.
- Footprint:Set up, the board provides ample rolling room for a typical batch of croissant or puff pastry dough.
- Storage:Disassembles quickly and fits into compact spaces (collapses to 14.75″ x 5.5″ x 8″).
Using the Sheeter: Real-World Baking Tests
We tested the sheeter with classic laminated doughs, including croissants, Danish, and puff pastry. The aim: to replicate bakery-level lamination results at home without exhaustive effort.
Rolling Performance and Thickness Settings
- The ten-point dial allowed fine-tuning from ultra-thin (ideal for final pastry sheeting) to thick (for initial dough rolling).
- Dough easily passed through the rollers with the manual crank.
- Each pass produced a uniformly even sheet, crucial for successful lamination.
With large enough surface (23.5″ x 12″), the sheeter handled up to 675g of dough comfortably—enough for standard batches. The smooth action of the rollers eliminated the need for repeated rolling and turning.
Precision and Consistency
Uniform thickness was a stand-out benefit. Croissant layers puffed up evenly during baking, and the crumb structure featured delicate, well-defined honeycomb interiors—the hallmark of well-laminated pastry.
What others are reading
- No tearing of dough or butter leakage, even during thinner settings.
- Consistent lamination across batches, minimizing human error.
- Results were ‘night and day’ compared to hand-rolling—a transformative leap for home bakers.
Versatility Beyond Pastry
While primarily marketed towards laminated doughs, the Brod & Taylor Sheeter proved adept at handling many other baking tasks:
- Pasta sheets:Uniform lasagna or ravioli dough.
- Pie crusts:Consistent thickness for even baking.
- Rugelach, babka, cinnamon rolls:Effortless flattening and spreading of fillings.
- Pizza bases:Neat, thin rounds for Neapolitan or cracker-style pizzas.
- Gluten-free crackers and specialty doughs:Even rolling for fragile mixtures.
Cleaning and Maintenance
Home baking tools must be easy to clean, especially when they touch butter and sticky dough. The Brod & Taylor sheeter excels in this area:
- Removable roller arms and board:All parts can be wiped down easily.
- Nonstick polypropylene surface:Minimizes dough sticking and residue build-up.
- No complex moving parts:No risk of butter or flour getting trapped in machinery.
Storage is simple: the unit folds or disassembles to a compact form. Durability is bolstered by clever material choices (hard-wearing polypropylene and lightweight aluminum).
Comparing Brod & Taylor to Other Sheeters and Hand Rolling
| Feature | Brod & Taylor Sheeter | Hand Rolling | Commercial Sheeter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | $495 USD | Minimal (Rolling Pin) | $2000+ USD |
| Ease of Use | Simple manual crank; adjustable | Physically demanding | Automatic/electric; bulky |
| Size (for home) | Compact; 23.5″ x 12″ board | Fits anywhere | Very large; unsuitable for home |
| Consistency | Excellent; professional results | Variable by skill | Excellent; professional results |
| Cleaning | Easy; few parts | Minimal | Complex; many moving parts |
Who Is the Brod & Taylor Dough Sheeter For?
This sheeter is ideal for serious home bakers who frequently make laminated pastries and want to improve consistency and speed. It’s also well suited to small microbakeries or those selling baked goods locally, thanks to its reliability and compact form. Bakers frustrated by rolling pin difficulties and inconsistent lamination will likely find the sheeter transformative.
- Bakers seeking bakery-quality croissants, puff pastry, and Danish without commercial investment.
- Small batch producers who want to speed up workflow and increase output.
- Bakers working in limited space: fits standard kitchen counter or shelf.
Potential Drawbacks and Considerations
No tool is perfect for everyone. While the sheeter offers many benefits, consider:
- Price:At $495, it’s an investment compared to a rolling pin, but a fraction the cost of commercial machinery.
- Manual operation:No motor; relies on manual power, which may be limiting if producing very large batches.
- Board wear:Extended use may affect board flatness; however, the company offers replacement boards as needed.
- Single batch size:Max batch (675g dough) suits home and micro-bakery, but commercial bakeries will need larger, electric sheeters.
User Reviews and Experiences
Bakers who tried the Brod & Taylor Dough Sheeter report overwhelmingly positive outcomes:
- Effortless lamination: First attempts yield professional-looking pastries.
- Reliability: Machine performs predictably; no mechanical breakdowns reported.
- Versatility: Used for pie crusts, crackers, babka, cinnamon rolls, and gluten-free baking.
- Compactness: Stores easily, doesn’t clutter the kitchen.
- Customer Service: Warranty and replacement parts handled promptly and courteously by company.
Some users noted board wear (slight sagging over time), easily addressed by reversing or replacing the board.
FAQs: Brod & Taylor Dough Sheeter
Q: Is the Brod & Taylor Dough Sheeter easy to clean?
A: Yes. Its board and roller arms are removable and easily wiped clean after use.
Q: What kinds of dough can I use with the sheeter?
A: It is optimized for laminated doughs such as croissants, Danish, puff pastry, pie crust, as well as pasta, pizza, babka, and crackers.
Q: How much dough can be rolled at once?
A: The device efficiently sheets up to 675g at a time, enough for typical home pastry batches.
Q: Is it sturdy and durable?
A: Yes. The sheeter is built with hard-wearing polypropylene and lightweight metals that withstand frequent use. Replacement boards are available if needed.
Q: Does it require electricity?
A: No. The sheeter is operated by a manual hand crank, making it usable anywhere.
Conclusion:
The Brod & Taylor Dough Sheeter bridges the gap between home baking and professional pastry making. Its thoughtful design resolves many pitfalls of hand lamination, speeds up the process, and produces results indistinguishable from bakery fare. For passionate bakers seeking consistency, speed, and a touch of professional magic in their kitchen, this tool is a game changer.
- Transform laminated dough production at home.
- Unlock varied pastry styles with ease.
- Save time, reduce fatigue, and enjoy professional results.
References
- https://newsletter.wordloaf.org/some-work-elsewhere/
- https://pleasanthillgrain.com/brod-taylor-dough-sheeter-laminator-12-inch
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIdL1GwEwVc
- https://brodandtaylor.com/products/15-5-sheeter-board
- https://brodandtaylor.com/products/dough-sheeter-large
- https://brodandtaylor.com/products/dough-sheeter
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