Do You Own A Cake Leveller And Is It Any Good?
Decorating By jojo76 Updated 5 Nov 2009 , 11:21am by Tee-Y
Hi All, just a quick question, do you use a leveller to get your cakes level? The chocolate cake recipe I use is fantastic but is the type that has a crust on the top which needs to be trimmed off. I NEVER trim straight!!!! The cake doesnt usually go above the tin as its a deep tin I use. I thought a leveller would be good, but want to check if they work and if they are worth the money before I spend!
Any advice greatly appreciated, thanks in advance! 
This is just a hobby for me so the Agbay is way out of my budget. I use the large Wilton leveler and it works like a charm when I use it. You just have to use it like a serated knife and use a sawing motion back and forth through the cake, you can't just pull it through the cake or it will tear it up.
There are many people who will tell you they don't like it and many that will tell you they do, when you get right down to it, it's all about personal preference. What works for one person may not work for another.
My experience the small leveler isn't worth the time or effort, the large one works perfect for me, but my best friend has trouble with it. If you get it from Hobby Lobby or Michaels, use the coupon, keep your reciept, if you don't like it, take it back.
There is another thread on this somewhere, it was fairly recent. If I can find it I will come back and post the link for you.
Here are a couple of threads about levelers, hope these links work, sometimes I have problems with links.
http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-657696-gumpastewilton.html+leveler
http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-654556-gumpastewilton.html+leveler
http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-653371-gumpastewilton.html+leveler
AGBAY!!!! Don't waste your time and money on anything else. I ruined more cakes and spent more time trying to "fix it" with my knife and Wilton levelers and dental floss and so on and finally I just did it! I ordered the Agbay and I have never been happier as it is one of the best investments I have made. Oh - I am a hobby baker and it has made my "hobby" much less stressful!!!
I have the large Wilton one...and it works waaaaay better than the dental floss/serrated knife/cut -and -say -a -prayer methods I've tried in the past 
Works GREAT when the cakes are chilled, not frozen though, obviously 
just be really, really careful when you're adjusting the height of the blade.
Got it at Michael's, price was $34, but used a 40% off coupon.
Lovely, works just fine for me 
HTH!!
I only have a small Wilton one, but I love it. I am in this as a hobby, so most of my cakes are no larger than 10 inches. A leveler makes it sooo easy to get that nice, even top!
I'm just going to say "ditto." Get a leveler. It will make things so much easier. I spent a lot of time trying to level my airplane cake without one, and I never got it perfectly straight. The next cake I made, I used just the small Wilton leveler, and it worked perfectly! I did have to use a sawing motion, but I'm happy with it, and it was cheap.
I use the large Wilton leveler and it works just fine.
I have both Wilton levelers. I use the small one most of the time. It works great. I had to replace it after almost 10 years because the wire snapped, but any tool that only costs $4 and lasts for nearly a decade is worth it to me. I would probably use the large leveler more often but my kitchen counters are small. I have a table that I set up when I do a big cake, and it's big enough to use the large leveler on.
Had the small Wilton leveler. Tossed it.
Had the large Wilton leveler. Tossed it.
Both were the usual Wilton "quality".
Agbay is far and away the Best. Leveler. Ever.
However, if you can't purchase one, at least don't waste your money on Wilton crap.
After baking your cake, take it out of the pan. Put a cardboard, or several cardboards into the pan. Reinsert your cake. Use a long serrated knife and the edge of the pan as a guide, and slice.
Voila! Level cake. And you may already own the knife.
Agbay!!!
I had the version with blade one and decided to upgrade to the two blades and love it!!!
They are very great to work with too and really stand by their product!
I have to say I've had my large wilton leveler for almost 10 years. I'm not a huge wilton fan, but this has worked well for me, using the sawing method.
I'm SURE the agbay is superior, so that is on my someday list.
LeahS you are a genius, why didn't I think of putting cake boards in the pan and putting the cake back in?????!!!! Will definitely try that, thanks for the idea!
Thanks everyone for the opinions, I think I will try leahs's suggestion, while saving for agbay, may ask Father Christmas for the wilton small one just to try it out!
Of all the thousands of tools I do have in this bakery a leveler isnt one of them!! I never need it. T trim and cut all my cakes and I just use a really sharp long knife. It's far faster and I dont have to mess with it. for me atleast it's all about keeping it simple
just my 2 cents
Mike
I've had problems with my large wilton leveler. I saw a video where they used it at an angle across the cake instead of straight across. (kind of hard to explain - both feet are still on the counter and the blade is at a level depth, but you basically start cutting through one corner only instead of across an entire side.) I tried it the last time I baked a cake and it worked better for me.
I think it's in part because i'm lazy and because I have so much going on tht one more tool is more than i want to make room for! LOL Like i said i trim all the crust off of my cakes so that means skinning the top and bottom, as well as the sides. I doo all of it with the same single knife. It's about 16 inches long with a rounded tip and serrated edge. I normally only try to do about 1/2 the width at a time or I cant keep it straight either! LOL I do cake in the 36"= size never seen a leveler big enough for that. 'course never looked either!LOL
Mike
Hi All, just a quick question, do you use a leveller to get your cakes level? The chocolate cake recipe I use is fantastic but is the type that has a crust on the top which needs to be trimmed off. I NEVER trim straight!!!! The cake doesnt usually go above the tin as its a deep tin I use. I thought a leveller would be good, but want to check if they work and if they are worth the money before I spend!
Any advice greatly appreciated, thanks in advance!
This one is nice and a good bit less expensive.
http://www.jbprince.com/pastry-tools-and-equipment/cake-saw-enamelled.asp
I have the wilton large leveller and it was an absolute waste of money. It cut every cake at a slant-ugh 
--but an Agbay hmm I WANT!!!! The funny thing is I can afford it but there is no where near me(I'm in Africa) to get it except to have it shipped overseas for me which is what I'm looking into how to go about.
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