Can anyone tell me where I can get high ration shortening? Also, I am having trouble finding dutch process cocoa. Any suggestions? I'm in Memphis TN..

Don't know where you can find high ratio shortening locally. Try either cake shops or a local baker. If you know somebody with a Sysco business account, you might be able to get it that way. I would think that Memphis is a big enough city you can find it somewhere.

DP cocoa should be a lot easier. You can either find it in your regular grocery store right next to the regular stuff (Hershey markets it as Special Dark cocoa with gold letters instead of silver) or go to someplace like Whole Foods, where you can get Valhrona cocoa powder, which is DP, but it's about $14/lb.

Here's a pic of the Hershey's stuff.

Thanks so much for your help. I think for the money, I'll try to Hershey's first. Is that what you use? I saw someone talking about the high ratio shortening on one of the forums, do you use that? I just use Crisco and it seems to work very well.

Yeah - IMO there's no real reason to use the Valhrona. I've tried both with the same result.

I've only tried the high ratio shortening once, and I loved it. It produced a creamy icing without the greasy mouthfeel, and cleanup was much easier. It didn't leave a greasy film on everything.

When you use High Ratio Shortening do you use the same amount as crisco? Or do you cut the amount in any way?

Just curious what everyone does.

Leily

This is the first I have heard of High Ratio Shortning. I also saw it mentioned in another thread, but I have no idea what it is. Can someone please explain? Is it butter, lard, some kind of new fat? Is there a brand name to look for? I would love to try this stuff. Don't get me wrong, I can eat BC icing by the tub full. But if there is something less greasy and easier to clean up, I am game.

It's just vegetable shortening with added emulsifiers. The emulsifiers help the water and sugar combine with and surround the fat molecules so they don't cling to your tongue or your tupperware.

It's not the easiest stuff to find, though, and other than Sweetex, I'm not sure what other brands there are. The stuff I got was CK Products. They make a lot of cake related stuff.

A 3# tub was $8, but you can usually get 50# for under $30, which is quite a savings.

Here's a link where you can order it online if you can't find it locally.
http://www.countrykitchensa.com/catalog/product.aspx?T=1&productId=619115

You can buy hi ratio from their cash and carry store. Call and ask if they have. I just finish talking to someone about this. In CA it is callec "cake shortening all vegetable" a 50lb cube is $29. Now a few other people have bought this and paid less because they live another state. The girl I was talking to lives in kY and it is called "cake and Icing application".

Find your state to see if one is located their. Explain what you are looking for and they should be able to help you. I also listed some other names of other hi ratio. Some people have bought from bakemark and like thier brand. Some people have tried Sweetex some like and some did not. It will be a matter of perference. The sysco brand has been great for me better then Crisco. Need any other help, I will try to help.

http://www.sysco.com/map/map.asp


Hi Ratio Shortening

http://www.sysco.com/aboutus/contactus.asp
(50lbs for $29, local store in Hayward

http://www.foodservicedirect.com/index.cfm/S/13/CLID/146/N/4471/Hunt_Wesson_-_Wesson_Shortening.ht (50lbs super quick blend 50lbs $56.45)

Other brands: Alpine, Biscot 140, Blendex, COVO S.M., Cremelite,CRISCO HI-RATIO, Golden Glow, XXX crème, Monarch Covo Sm (Icings & Cakes), Monarch Covo Sm - Non Hydro
Monarch XXX Cream (for Icings), Monarch Artisan Cremin (for buttercream icing - just whip & use)
Monarch M300 (Icing Base), Canbra Hi Ratio (Cakes) AND SweeteX Hi Ratio Shortening

http://www.bakemark.com/index.html - some people mention this because they could not the SYSCO brand. They were happy with it.