Lost My Flower Nail, What Can I Use Instead?
Baking By weidertm24 Updated 30 May 2011 , 5:02pm by warchild
Well turns out I can't find my flower nail and I have to make a few 10" cakes tomorrow. What can I use instead? I also don't have a heating core.
Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance.
I would take a nail--something with a fairly large, flat head--and glue a sturdy piece of cardboard to it.
I would take a nail--something with a fairly large, flat head--and glue a sturdy piece of cardboard to it.
You can't use glue and cardboard in cake batter as a heating core.
(it isn't being used for making roses.)
A very large nail with a cleaned can lid for the base. Pound the nail thru the can lid and use the same as the flower nail. You could also make a multi layered square of tin foil and poke the thru the center. Have done both and works just fine. I bought a few 'new nails' at the hardware store...the biggest I could find, cleaned them off well with steal wool and keep them in a small box with the can lids.
I would take a nail--something with a fairly large, flat head--and glue a sturdy piece of cardboard to it.
You can't use glue and cardboard in cake batter as a heating core.
(it isn't being used for making roses.)
Sorry. That's what I get for trying to read quickly when I'm tired.
I have to bake a couple 10's as well....I tried using a flower nail before and it didn't work!!!! I don't have a heating core...I'm hoping someone will post and help us both!!
I would personally skip the nail and bake the cake at 325 degrees. It works great for me!
But if you'd like, you could always make home-made "bake-even strips" with strips of wet towel (cut from an old one) which you pin to the outside of the pan, then cover with strips of foil.
When I took a cake decorating course years ago the teacher told us we could use green bean cans. I did for a while until I purchased a baking core and extra flower nails. It actually works better than the core that I had.
Thanks so much for the tips everyone! Used the towel for one of them and nothing for the second one. Both turned out pretty good!
Thanks again!
I tried the flower nail once and did not have good results, so I glued strips of towels on with silicone glue. Can heat up to 400 degrees. Works awesome. My cakes come out level all the time and I bake at 325 always, like Sangriacupcake suggests.
A very large nail with a cleaned can lid for the base. Pound the nail thru the can lid and use the same as the flower nail. You could also make a multi layered square of tin foil and poke the thru the center. Have done both and works just fine. I bought a few 'new nails' at the hardware store...the biggest I could find, cleaned them off well with steal wool and keep them in a small box with the can lids.
Not trying to interfer, but nails are not food safe. Nails are treated with zinc to help prevent rusting. They are also put through a tumbling machine with caustic soda, to remove/burn off any remaining wire residue before packaging.
Nails may come a bit cleaner with a good scrub of steel wool but I doubt the steel wool would remove all the chemicals.
My opinion only, but I'd be very hesitant in recommending nails as a substitute for flower nails as well as be very hesitant in using them myself.
Guess I should have noted that I use Stainless Steel nails, which will be a bit more expensive, rather than galvanized nails.
Guess I should have noted that I use Stainless Steel nails, which will be a bit more expensive, rather than galvanized nails.
There's still the problem of the nails not being food safe, and not made in a food safe enviroment. Stainless steel nails are manufactured in China as well as the US and Canada for our hardware/home improvement stores. If a person ends up buying the wrong stainless nails, there is no guarantee the nails from China are true stainless steel.
It would be better to recommend food safe nails such as potato baking nails. They look the same as your everyday nail, and they are food safe.
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