Icing Bottles {WFMW}

May 4, 2011 | 40 Comments »

I get probably 3 emails a day about my cool little bottles.  “What are they?”, “How do they work?” and   “Where can I get them?” are the most common questions.

So, today I am going to show you my cool little bottles and tell you where to get your own.

I pretty much use three different types of bottles.  A regular old Wilton candy bottle, and small and large bottles that are made to be used with couplers.

For those of you interested in the bottles with couplers, this is how they work…
The set comes with a bottle, coupler, coupler ring, and a plastic tip which is approximately the size of a #3 opening.  I don’t care much for the tips they come with, so I always throw them away them and use my own.
Here are the “lid parts” {I used my own tip}
All you do is connect the three parts just like on a piping bag, screw it onto the bottle, and you’re done!
This type of bottle can sometimes be found in local cake supply stores, but most often they have to be ordered.  Especially if you live in the boonies like I do, which brings me to these…
Wilton squeeze bottles
They weren’t actually intended for cookies, but they work pretty darn well.

They come in three sizes, mini, regular and large, but its a weird system to me…by my standard the mini is regular, the regular BIG, and the large, HUGE!  But that’s just me…

I’d tell you the exact measurements, BUT since it’s not in the product info and I’m not in the experimenting mood…I’m going to make a guesstimate.  The mini holds about 6-7 ounces of icing, so the regular probably holds 10-12, and the large maybe 16?  Just a guess.

The great news is, you can get the minis, which are my personal fave, at Walmart for about two dollars.

You will have to order the bigger ones from the actual Wilton site and you can find them {HERE}.

Wilton also makes a tinier set of 18 but I don’t like them at all.  It almost takes an act of God to get the icing into them.  In my personal opinion, you are better off just buying the small coupler-type bottles.

HOWEVER if you want to try them, Karen’s Cookies sells them {HERE}.  To save you a mess and tons of frustration, the best way to get the icing into them is to snip the end off of a pastry bag and use it as a funnel.
On the subject of tips, of my favorite Wilton bottle suggestion is this…For faster flooding, just snip off the tip. Works like a charm! {It was almost impossible to not overuse “tip” in that paragraph}

If I were to make a recommendation, I would suggest you buy mostly the Wilton type {from Walmart} and a ton of small coupler types.  These are the sizes I most often use.

I prefer the Wilton for flooding and use the smaller one for detail work.
I keep a few of the large coupler type on hand, just in case, but I don’t use them as frequently as the others.
They also all come with nifty little lids so you can use them to store the icing in, although I wouldn’t leave it in there for too too long…
If you need to stir them, the handle end of wooden spoons work great,
or good ol’ chopsticks {thats my extra long pair from World Market}
And when you are ready to wash them, nothing woks better than a bottle brush.  I go through TONS of these!
Icing bottles have not eliminated my need for a piping bag, but I absolutely could not do without them…
I use them for all flooding, and also for full on decorating with 20-second icing.
Now for the fun part…you can get these in a lot of places, so I am just going to make a list.  To find them, click on the shop and you will be taken directly to them.
I think that Country Kitchen has the best selection, however, they often sell out in ALL of these shops, so you may have to look around.
There are also other places to get them, I just listed my favorite shops.  So, if you prefer to shop elsewhere, they are most often found under candy making tools and supplies.
This is all that I know about icing bottles *I think*
If you need help filling them, check out this little video.
I have an embarrasing number of these things because I LOVE them and they really really work for me!  I hope they work as well for you too!
Tutorials
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