Does any one use these? Do they work? I found that if I turn the temp down in my oven and bake the cake a little longer, it comes out flat but time is the issue as I don't always have the time and lately, time is just flying by.

Does any one use cake release by Wilton? A couple of others I know use different products including myself but am told this one is good as long as dont over do it.

Same with Meringue Powder--some recipes call for this but I have never used it. Anyone use this on a regular basis who can tell me about it?

Thanks for you help and support!

I use the bake even strips all the time, with a flower nail in the center of the cake pan and bake at 325. If you do not have issues getting a flate cake then they aren't needed, but if you do, they are great.

I make my own home made pan release (equal parts of flour, oil and crisco). It has always worked well for me. I have used Wilton's and it worked great as well, but it is easy to make at home and I don't have to worry about running out.

I do use Meringue Powder in my icing. I have done with out before as well, but started having some issues the last few summers and have added it back in.

Meringue Powder isn't a must use, since crusting is based off of the sugar to fat ratio, but it can help keep dark colors from bleeding as fast and for me makes a more stable icing in our hot, humid summers.

I have used the bake strips -they do work, but they are a pain for me to get onto the pans every time, I usually don't bother using them, and just trim my cake to be flat.

The cake release...I also make my own, and LOVE IT, I keep it in a tuppaware container with a lid, right in the cupboard - I use 1 cup flour, 1 cup crisco, and 1/2 c of vegetable oil and grease pans with a paper towel -again LOVE IT!

Meringue Powder - I like this took I use recipes that call for the powder rather then egg whites - it seems pricy- but it does last a while....and I think it works very well in my icings...

The Wilton cake release is very expensive for what it is. As long as you have a flat pan - - not shaped - - grease and flour the pan and when you take it out of the oven, immediately set it on a wet towel. You can flip it out of the pan sooner, too. I can have a cake out of the oven, leveled and out of the pan within 2 minutes. I've been doing this for several years and haven't had anything stick. Not once.

I use the Bake Even strips. I don't find them difficult at all to use. I have never used the Cake Release. I use Baker's Joy spray. It works well and it's cheap. I don't use meringue powder for anything anymore. I used it a while back in a recipe where it called for meringue powder (to make an actual shelf-stable meringue base for a buttercream) and it tasted sour. It was really gross and everyone thought it was lemon icing. That has happened to me more than once with the Wilton meringue powder, so I know it's not just the container I had.

I basicly use the Wilton class recipe. 1 cup crisco, 1 lb powder sugar 2-4T water, and flavoring.

Crusting is based off of the sugar to fat ratio. The 1 cup fat to 1 lb powder sugar is a pretty general ratio that has always worked well for me. The more fat the less it crusts the more sugar the faster it crusts.

I also make my own cake release...Equal parts Crisco, veg. oil and flour...works great!!

Any crusting recipe will crust without meringue powder. You definitely DON'T need it for your icing to crust. Like Texas said, it's all about the fat to sugar ratio.

Thanks Texas Sugar for answering my question.