Officially disappointed with 'The Mat'. - Page 4

GREAT ANALOGY!

I will do my best to get to the kitchen I work out of today and get some measurements on the "mini" if I can not get info direct from Sweetwise.

As for the "sealing" of the fondant to the mat...you actually want this to occur but as I believe a poster had mentioned before; be careful not to go too thin as this can cause problems especially with getting it off of the mat in one piece....never measured how thick or thin I roll mine I just run my hand over it and can feel when I think it is right. Anyone having problems peeling it back off of the mat try rolling a little thicker and see if that helps.

Here is one of the videos................
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nu6QpimDDDQ

They do tell you to use a different rolling technique and I think it works rather well. I also mentioned before that the surface actually let my (wooden) pin "glide" across rather then rolling. Kind of just happened by accident but once it did I did alot of the work just like that. It was quick and somewhat effortless! Mind you, this is a vintage pin possibly antique. I use it because it is so heavy.
HTH

Suzisweet, have you used MMF on it? I was wondering if maybe the other ones work but the MMF doesn't for some reason. That might be a stupid question but I wouldn't know because I only use homemade MMF and that is because that's the one I can afford, lol. But I was thinking about getting The Mat so what do you think??

Have not used MMF but I am planning on it so that I can experiment and possibly help with issues people are having. I am also teaching some classes at my local middle school. They now have a cake decorating club and I am having the students make MMF to make some decorations with. I want to show them how to cover a cake too and I want to use the same fondant that they will have and be using. I will keep you posted.

Thank you so much! I am doing a wedding cake soon and it is my first and I'm kinda freaking out about it. I do fondant all the time but I was thinking of using The Mat to take out some of the stress and I don't want to make it MORE stressful! I think I'm just stressing myself out actually, I'm sure it will be fine. Thanks for any input you can give me about it! I greatly appreciate it!

The mat for me was wonderful!!!! I made my first wedding cake this weekend and the mat worked great for my fondant. The bottom tier of the cake was a 16x16, 4ins high and the big piece of fondant was so easy to pick up and set on the cake with the mat, I will diffidently be using mine again!!

Dellababe, was it MMF or otherwise?

Bubbl3h3ad, I have the mat and use MMF all the time. I have no problems with the mat. I have washed it a couple of times because of my urge to clean everything and it still works fine. I like the fact that I can move the fondant around until I am happy with the position before I realease it from the mat. IMHO I would rather use that than buy some clear vinly from Walmart which has not been designed as food safe.

Alright... I tried the Mat again, like I said I would and I had a bit more success this time, so I thought I should share my experience...

First of all, I use MMF. Usually I kneed in a little less Powdered Sugar and more crisco so it won't dry out as much during the rolling process. This time I increased the amount of PS I used and it did seem to help a bit.

My biggest two problems were air bubbles marking the fondant and sticking/rippling when trying to remove the fondant from the Mat. I think I have solved the air bubble problem. I noticed when the Mat was "catching" at the ends and I pulled it back, most of the air bubbles materialized when I tried to smooth the Mat back down. So after I noticed that, I tried to only pull the mat back to the edge of the fondant, and not off of the fondant and voila, virtually no air bubbles!

My second problem I tried to address, the sticking and rippling upon removal... I actually think I figured this one out by mistake! I was covering a 2 tier cake. When I was covering the 1st cake is when I noticed the air bubble problem/solution, so when I finished rolling I still had some air bubbles to try and get rid of. So I pulled the top Mat off and rubbed a bit of powdered sugar on and rolled it with the rolling pin to get rid of them. But I still had some ripples underneath, so I laid the top Mat back down and flipped it, peeled back the other Mat (lots of sticking and rippling, so I dusted it and rolled it again to fix it. At this point I was happy enough and ready to apply the fondant to my cake, assuming the fondant wasn't adhered to the Mat any longer and I'd have to do it the old fashioned way. Lo and behold, the fondant had stuck to the Mat as I was rolling even with the sugar on it. So I picked it up and laid it down and it released just like in the video!

So... that whole story was to illustrate the trick I think I figured out. When I went to do my second cake, I dusted the bottom piece of the Mat with a little bit of Powdered Sugar (but I forgot to do the other side of the Mat!). It rolled out beautifully, NO air bubbles or rippling... It released very easily from the dusted side of the Mat. However, since I forgot to dust the other side, it did stick pretty badly, and I ended up having to scrape it off and start over. I'm waiting for a new batch of fondant to "rest", but I think next time if I dust both sides of the Mat I will be home free. Not exactly "dustless" but the sugar absorbs into the fondant and there is virtually no mess.

Sorry this was so long, but I hope this helps anyone who was having the same trouble I was...

I am reading all this because if am thinking about buying it also. Some are happy, some are sad. Some are saying. they are using powder sugar on it to keep it from sticking. I just watched the video that was posted several post up. She is saying , you don,t have to use anything. no powder sugar ,etc. she seasons it once. with shortening, then wipes it off.So what is most doing. Like the video says to do or what you want to do for your convenience. I would like little more help while i am deciding. thank you.

Hey Suzisweet -- I would love to have information on the 'mini' as well. I'm taking a class as Sweetwise in a couple of weeks (so excited!) and definitely want to get these if available. By the way - your cakes are awesome. You are my new hero

Happycake- my guess is that if the PS worked, then you may have overseasoned your mat and the PS helped to soak up some of the crisco. It also could be your way of making your MMF as you say you make it a special way that worked for you. Now you may have to adjust your recipe.

I used this with Wilton fondant and did not experience the trials you did. I'm sure once you get that MMF recipe down pact, you will become a pro at using this.

I purchased the mat thinking it would be a time saver and don't like it at all. I tried several times and keep getting little air bubbles. I tried wiping the mat to see if I added to much shortening still have the air bubbles. The two pieces never line up almost like they weren't cut correctly. I really want to like the mat but so far for me at least it has been a wait of 25.00. For now it's sitting in the corner. I will give it a try again on a practice cake.

Yes, I am also dissapointed with the Mat...same probs that other peeps have had, sticking, pockmarks, etc etc....I am hoping that with time and practice it will get better....if not, does n e one know if there is a way to get our money back? Just kinda feelin a bit ripped off right now...had much better results rollin it old school...

I don't see why the Mat has to line up to work. I t is two sheets of plastic put together and theybare large e ough to cover the surface. Mine do not line up exactly either. One is maybe an inch off. Certainly not enough tp hinder its performance.

I would suggest practice and wiping it down even more if you get the pock maeks (I didn't get thst problem).

As for a refund, contact the seller. Putting your statement here will not help you find your answer. Ther are many of us who are very happy with the Mat. But not everything works for everybody. I am sure they would understand that. You will probsvly have to incur the shipping charge, which is standard. But I bet you the owners would prefer ypu deal with that issue directly to them. Just guessing in that one. I do not know them personally.

Damn, SO SORRY for asking a simple question regarding getting a refund on this product **picking head up off of the floor and backing away from the computer**. I was under the assumption that this forum is the appropriate place to ask such questions. I simply was inquiring if anyone else has approached this company regarding getting a refund for this product. It seems to me that other companies are fair game for unending criticism (Wilton, for one), but a few members of CC take every little criticism of the MAT extremely personally....as if the had a vested interest in this company. I did not have a good experience with this product, and I feel that I have right to voice my opinion regarding this matter. And I am not the only poster who has had problems with this product. And Linda, I do not appreciate your dictating to me about what I may and may not post. Have a SUPER day.