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Is there any way to salvage gritty icing?

post #1 of 22
6/10/10 at 11:37am
Thread Starter 
Please tell me there's a way! I just made a huge batch and it's terrible. I don't know what I did wrong? It's the same recipe I use all the time and I've never had this problem.

I used 3 cups of butter, 3 cups of Sweetex, 6 lbs of powdered sugar and hot coffee creamer and it came out terribly gritty. The only thing different is it was a new container of Sweetex...think it could have been a bad batch?

ARRGGG! I need it for a cake being picked up this afternoon....anyone know of a way to fix it?

Thanks for any and all help - I appreciate it!
"Today... When it all seems a waste of time & energy... Know that your best matters & that somebody, somewhere, will benefit from your love!" -Donnie Wahlberg
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"Today... When it all seems a waste of time & energy... Know that your best matters & that somebody, somewhere, will benefit from your love!" -Donnie Wahlberg
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post #2 of 22
6/10/10 at 12:17pm
You can try straining it through a nylon stocking - this works for lumpy icing. If the gritty bits are large enough it should work for that as well. Good luck!
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post #3 of 22
6/10/10 at 12:34pm
Thread Starter 
At this point, I'm willing to try anything!! Thanks Frotusbush!!!
"Today... When it all seems a waste of time & energy... Know that your best matters & that somebody, somewhere, will benefit from your love!" -Donnie Wahlberg
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"Today... When it all seems a waste of time & energy... Know that your best matters & that somebody, somewhere, will benefit from your love!" -Donnie Wahlberg
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post #4 of 22
6/10/10 at 12:53pm
Put some HOT cream in it - just a bit - and then beat the bajeeses out of it on medium for 5-10 minutes.
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post #5 of 22
6/10/10 at 2:30pm
I agree, it sometimes help to add hot liquid to it to melt the icing a little, and then let it firm up again and sometimes that takes care of the grit problem.
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post #6 of 22
6/11/10 at 1:11pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks you guys! I felt like beating the bajeeses out of something when I got done with it! I added hot cream to it but nothing worked. I had to start over from scratch. Bleh!
"Today... When it all seems a waste of time & energy... Know that your best matters & that somebody, somewhere, will benefit from your love!" -Donnie Wahlberg
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"Today... When it all seems a waste of time & energy... Know that your best matters & that somebody, somewhere, will benefit from your love!" -Donnie Wahlberg
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post #7 of 22
6/11/10 at 4:04pm
I am sorry that beating it didnt work. Does anyone know WHY this happens? It has happened to me a couple of times.
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post #8 of 22
6/11/10 at 4:22pm
Did you change the brand of powdered sugar? When you buy powdered sugar pay attention to the number before the "x". That tells you how finely ground to a powder it is. Smooth, uncooked frostings works best with 10X . But some stores may also sell 4x or 6x, which could result in grit.
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Housework makes you ugly.

It's marshmallow, not marshmellow! Aaargh, I have the strangest pet peeves!
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post #9 of 22
6/11/10 at 4:43pm
has happened to me on a number of occasions. i cannot find the common factor. i only use hi ratio. i only use dominos 10x. i only use hot to very warm creamer. it boggles my mind. BUT it seems sometimes i cannot get all of the PS into my recipe of 1 cup shortening to 1lb of PS to work. the times i try to "force" the last cup or so into the bc it will turn chalky/gritty on me. i don't know if i'm not added enough liquid on those occasions or not but i don't want my icing to be too soft. almost makes me want to only do smbc but then i would have refrigeration issues :\\
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post #10 of 22
6/11/10 at 9:42pm
the times this has happened to me, it has been a bad batch of PS...

Sharon

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Sharon

Intsructional DVDs and Supplies
www.sugaredproductions.com
www.sharonssugarshack.com

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post #11 of 22
6/22/10 at 12:01am
Thread Starter 
Hmmm...I've never paid any attention to the number before the "x". I buy the 50lb bags of sugar at Costco and have never noticed that. The ONLY thing I can think of that I did differently was that I let the butter/sweetex mixture beat for quite a bit while I walked out of the kitchen and into the garage. I must have let it beat for about 10 minutes but I'm not sure if this would have made a difference.
Actually, I think I read a post on here some time ago that the longer you beat the butter and shortening, the fluffier your icing comes out. Maybe not....??
"Today... When it all seems a waste of time & energy... Know that your best matters & that somebody, somewhere, will benefit from your love!" -Donnie Wahlberg
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"Today... When it all seems a waste of time & energy... Know that your best matters & that somebody, somewhere, will benefit from your love!" -Donnie Wahlberg
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post #12 of 22
6/22/10 at 4:43am
I put all the fats and liquids in at start and then beat long time until all liquid is incorporated and it's light and fluffy.

then add PS and beat very long time on SLOW (on my KA: 2) speed.

only it is too stiff do I add any liquid once PS is in and then only cold.

never gritty, just smooth and light.


-----

wonders if adding hot liquid didn't cause some of the sugar to melt and then as it cooled recrystallize into bigger gritty chunks.
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post #13 of 22
6/22/10 at 7:19am
I agree that there are bad packages of powdered sugar. I use the same couple of brands all the time and 95% of the time they're great, but every once in a while I'll get a bag that's gritty.

When I open a new bag of powdered sugar, I always rub a small amount between my fingers or put it on my tongue. You can tell right away if it's gritty.

I recently made gum paste and forgot to test the sugar. While I was kneading it, I realized the sugar was gritty. I could feel and hear the sugar crystal as I worked with it. Not sure why this happens, but just make sure to test a new bag for gritty-ness every time you open one.
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post #14 of 22
7/3/12 at 6:50pm
I am brand new to this site. I made home made chocolate frosting, followed the recipe to the letter; it came out GRITTY, GRITTY, GRITTY. I was so upset. I didn't want to throw all that goodness away. I thought, there must be a way to fix this problem, and WALA, I found all of you.

THANK YOU, to all of you for posting on here to add warm cream and beat the "bejeasus" out of it. It worked like a dream. Great flavor, great texture. Awesome. You all are wonderful.

I saw where someone said it might be the powdered sugar. Well, I bought the sugar that was on sale, humpf, I will never do that again.

You all saved me.
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post #15 of 22
7/3/12 at 7:16pm
It was Domino 10X sugar which was not correctly bagged at the factory. They either bagged 6X or a mix of 6X and granulated. Many people have reported the same problem and it turns out to always be Domino. There appears to be no quality control in the factory regarding the sieves used for the different grades. Or else some extremely stupid person is dumping the grains that can'tr pass 10X sieves back into the production line.

Adding hot extra liquid dissolves those larger sugar grains. Beating longer also helps that process. The result is that the icing does get more fluffy.

If you still have the bag, contact Domino with any production code info. And maybe take the bag back to where you bought it from...because it is NOT 10X "powdered" regardless of what it says.

Yes I have worked in food packing and I know how products fail the processing like sieving or filtering. It's blatantly obvious as soon as you use a microscope...
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