bread sticks

Maybe you could put a bunch of pizza cutting wheels together to make a roller to cut the rolled out dough in even strips. 

I'm thinking about doing a little cutting orgami on some parchment too.  Cut in such a way that you could roll out the dough on it, cut the ends of the paper and separate every other grissini out without stretching them out of shape.  

Let me see... fold a piece of parchment  slightly bigger than the sheet pan.... fold in half.  Take a scissors and cut straight cuts from the fold at 1cm intervals (or 1/4") or the intervals between the blades of the pizza cutter roller.  Cut to half the length of the sheet pan leaving some space to keep the paper intact.  Unfold and press flat.  Lay the floured rolled out dough carfully over the slitted paper and following the paper cuts exposed around the edges of the dough, cut the sticks.

Now to the tricky part if you're still following me...  At the end of the paper where the cuts join, cross cut every other strip to free it from the end.  On the opposite end cut also every other end but in such a way that when pulling the two ends apart, the rows of bread sticks separate so half pull to the slide left, the other half pulls to the slide right.  It would be like putting your fingers together to form a flat surface with alternating fingers, then pull the fingers apart, the fingers representing the grissini cut dough.  That would give you spaces between the sticks for baking. 

What do you think of that brainstorm.  Think it could work?

The edges of the sheet pan could also be used as a support for a straight rule to guide the pizza cutter.

Mini

Edit:   I thought of something else,  use one of those round scissors for cutting. Cut right thru the dough and parchment and then separate the rows.  Razor sharp.  Hey, another thought, anyone try using one of those round cutters to score a loaf?

in Italian but is very clear if you already know shaping/folding. It's interesting in that he does not roll these, just lets the dough rest enough to pull the dough from each end.

Qahtan,

Roll the dough thin, then run a pizza cutter across it to cut narrow strips.  A straightedge (ruler, whatever) makes it easy to keep the cuts straight and uniform.  Basically the same notion as Mini's but simpler.

For grissini like those in the photo, the strips should probably be about 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch in width.  They will puff up as they proof and bake, so the just-cut pieces should be smaller than the size of the baked pieces.

If you want toppings (seeds, cheese, salt, etc.), it is easiest to apply those before cutting the strips.

Paul

Qahtan - what i did was to roll the dough thin.  try to make an oblong, cut them short,  roll and lengthen as you roll.  roll from the middle,  if you like round rather than square. If you like seeds,  put the seeds on the table top,  as you roll,  you are picking up the seeds. consistency is an issue for me, but the idea is there.

check out the pic here:  

http://sites.google.com/site/jlohcook/home

I can't seem to upload the picture in here.

here: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/16489/breadsticks-%E2%80%94%E2%80%94-my-second-bread

Maybe she will tell you how she did it...