Can anyone recommend a large surface that I could purchase to work on for rolling out fondant and making flowers if I do not want to use my counter tops? I would need it large enough to roll out fondant for at least 16" rounds and squares.

Another thread I was on suggested vinyl. I just bought some vinyl at Hobby Lobby in their fabric section. They cut it by the yard, so you can get whatever size you want. It was only 2.99/ yd, and it was on sale for $2/ yd.

You can purchase sheets of vinyl in the craft area of Walmart or Joanne's Fabrics!

Thanks so much! Wish I had known earlier today I was just @ Joanns this morning...Thanks Again!!!

Anyone know a trick to keeping the sheet of vinyl from sliding around while rolling fondant out on it without having to tape it down?

Wet your surface with water before you lay the vinyl down. The water will act like an adhesive. And PS, my super WalMart just got rid of fabric by the yard.

good question kakedreamer1212...I forgot about the surface slipping part!

monet1895 wrote:

Will this work for all surfaces...even on wooden tables?

Hmmm...can't say for sure about the wooden table. I would think that it would, but honestly I'm just guessing.

If you want something more substantial you can check at home improvement stores for pieces of marble or granite, but they are quite heavy.

Is vinyl actually food safe? I didn't think it was due to the chemicals they use to make it pliable.

I use a sheet of Vinyl on my wood kitchen table . I wipe the table with a damp towel then lay the vinyl on top . It works great.

Just found this and if you do a search you can find other's, non toxic.
http://www.bedbathstore.com/evaecshli.html

Wow! That would be great JustToEatCake...is that food safe? I see it says non-toxic but does that make it food safe as well?

When you ladies use the vinyl are you also able to cut on it with cutters and rollers without damaging the vinyl or the table and does it leave any marks or crinkles in your fondant/gumpaste?

what about a large sheet of silicone, Ive seen it where you can get a large sheet to cut up to use as baking sheets, etc, so assuming that it is food safe.

jojo76, be careful with the silicone mats, a lot of them say not to cut them (I think they have fiberglass threads in them and cutting exposes them) I use vinyl bought at the fabric store. As far as food safe, a lot of what I have read says some is not good for prolonged food contact, but 5 or 10 minutes of rolling fondant on it is not prolonged in my opinion.

I've also read that as long as you aren't heating the vinyl it's totally fine.

I was thinking of using a large peice of plexiglass to cover my table and counter top from cutters and exacto knife. Any reason why this wouldn't be a good idea?

I didnt know that about silicone, thanks! I am thinking of getting a toughened plastic dining table for rolling out on, from Ikea, as I can wash it down easily. For cutting, its a bit of a minefield isnt it? I guess a glass chopping board would work, though they are often textured......Ive seen alot of people use those dark green self healing cutting mats, but they cant be food safe, surely????

This is my greatest challenge....finding a large surface that is foodsafe and self-healing for rolling and cutting. I went to my local walmart and found a really large cutting board but just as jojo76 said, it was textured so that was out. I also went to Joanns and considered one of the rotary boards that seamstresses use but the fabric attendant @ Joanns says they are made with some type of oil that makes them non foodsafe. My next stop is going to be the local hardware store to see what they can recommend. Someone recommended that I try local shops that supply countertops for remnants to see if they have large slabs of left over granite they could sale. I'm not sure about that because I don't have granite counter tops. Anyone out there use their granite countertops and can tell me how that works for them?

I use my granite counter top and it works fine

I, too, see no problem with rolling on heavy duty vinyl from WalMart.

The phthalates that make it flexible could be a problem if a porous, acidic food sat on it for an extended period of time, but for me, the incidental contact of rolling a piece of fondant on it is a complete non-issue.

I tape my vinyl piece down on my Corian counter top. I buy the very heavy weight vinyl, so I can cut on it with a pizza cutter or cookie cutters without a problem. If I need to use a very sharp knife or tool, I transfer the fondant to a smooth, flexible chopping mat.

A damp piece of paper towel under vinyl on a wooden table should hold it in place pretty well.

Rae

I don't know if these are food safe-we would have to check on what they are actually made of, but when I was in college we used rolls of a type of heavy vinyl on top of our drafting tables that were self healing (to a degree). Much heavier than the vinyl you would be getting in the fabric stores. Would get it in an art store or a place where they sell drafting supplies.

That super heavy vinyl is used by sugar artists who work with hot sugar and isomalt. It is INSANELY expensive.

The heaviest gauge of vinyl at fabric stores is very workable and still inexpensive enough so that if it gets damaged, you don't have a nervous breakdown.

Readily available clear vinyl isn't rated for use with food. It would drive the price up significantly.

That said, if it isn't being heated, chewed on (like vinyl children's toys that were taken off the market because the phthalates leached out when exposed to mouth acids), or having acidic food sitting on it for a long period of time, those phthalates are basically encapsulated and would be hard pressed to escape.

Rae

I went to a cabinet store and purchased a piece of Formica sheeting for 15.00. I lay the Formica on top of my kitchen table and attach with two plastic spring clamps. It is so easy to clean and store in my closet.

I was thinking about stainless steel. I've been using the Wilton mat over a piece of thin wood siding that I covered with adhesive shelf paper. My work area in my kitchen has 4"x4" tiles, so I have to cover it with something flat first, before I put down the Wilton mat. It is now VERY apparent that I've outgrown the Wilton mat which is too small to roll out fondant for large cakes and is being cut to pieces by using Xacto knives (even tho I'm careful).

I've been searching online and found this 18"x24" stainless steel cutting board (there is also a bakers board on the same site). About $60 shipped. Any suggestions from y'all on stainless steel? I'd prefer about 30" x 30", but can't find anything.

I found a really nice cutting mat...not sure what it's made of but it is very nice and durable...I cut on it with cutters, my Xacto knife, and steel pairing knife and its self-healing! I got it from the my cake supplier but it's made by Ateco. They have a website with all kinds of products and all different sizes of the mats like I got. I love my mat it's great! HTH!

I recently bought an OLFA rotary cutting mat from the sewing section at Michaels because I thought it would be perfect for fondant. Then I saw the posting in this thread about it being covered in an oil therefore definitely not food-safe. I called the company this morning and asked....they said that while the mats are not FDA approved ( as it is a sewing product ) there are no toxins in the mat to make it unsafe. HTH.