I would love to see how everyone else does it.

Vonda

I can't help with RI, but for BC I always start with chocolate and add a tube of either Cake Mate black or Wilton Black. Then I finish it off with americolor. HTH

I'm a straight-up Americolor user.

Basically you wait. Most colors don't fully develop for a while. Red and black can take up to two hours to fully develop.

Mix in some color, WAIT.

Eventually you will get black.

white BC + black food coloring + 2 days on the counter = black icing

I am a big Americolor user.. But when it comes to black and red I use Chefmaster. I went to a bakery where I seen a woman turn about 5 cups of frosting black in a matter of a few minutes... She didn't use the whole tube and it turned quickly

So in my opinion... Chefmaster...try Chefmaster for red and black

I just made black RI and navy blue fondant. It takes A LOT of coloring and it's definitely darker after a day or two. The black was really black. The black I used was Wilton gel, and the navy was Americolor. I think they both performed about the same quantity-wise and the color on both was great! Good luck!

Americolor super black gives instant true black.

I haven't purchased any bottles of Americolor yet; all I have are Wilton jars. So, I use black to get a med-dark gray base color (think of tinted primer) then I add in cocoa powder until it's pretty dark. The cocoa can over-stiffen the icing so I usually have to add a little more water to it. After sitting about 45 minutes it will have darkened to perfection!

Americolor Super Black (and Super Red) are great....might have to try Chefmaster sometime though - thanks for the tip wgoat5!

I do not post much, however, I do enjoy reading the posts.

For about 16 years, I have been decorating and this is what works for me:

BLACK icing: color dark brown using color or cocoa, then add black and let set.
RED icing: color bright pink then add the "no taste" red and let set. These methods work very quickly if you are in a bit of a hurry.

The taste for both colors are great and no bitter taste.

Thank you all so much. I just placed an order with GSA that included the Americolor Super Red and Black.

Vonda

Chefmaster all the way! Don't have to use near as much and don't have to wait forever.

Glenda we are going to have to push Chefmaster

I do want to stress to people... if you are using cocoa to help get your black you might want to tell the customer... someone actually might be allergic to chocolate

Hmmm, after such enthusiastic endorsements, I'm gonna have to pick up some Chefmaster just to try it!

To get red I start with orange frosting and then add in the red color. Starting with the orange avoids it turning pink and gets it a nice, dark shade of red.

i love all the chefmaster colors... been using for years.... i do like americolor also... bakerycraft red red... is great..... earlene moore got me on that... hth

Chefmaster is all I use now for primary colors.