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Ateco vs Wilton


CanadianBakin'

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Many of my recipe books suggest Ateco size tips and I can't seem to find them where I live. I know I can buy them online but the shipping makes them quite expensive. Does anyone have or know where I can find a cross reference chart between Ateco and Wilton tip sizes? I have looked online to no avail. Thanks for your help.

Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. Orison Swett Marden

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Hey, as far as I know, tip sizes are standard.

I don't think there's any difference between, say, an Ateco number 1 plain tip and a Wilton number 1 plain tip. I could be wrong, but I doubt it.

Besides, I rarely look at the number on the tip anyway. I just look at the hole and know if it's the one I want. :wink:

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I always said AH tic ow, but I've heard it pronounced ah TEEK ow?? 

My salesguy pronounced it Ah-TEEK-o, so that's how I pronounce it too. Don't know if that's

right or not....... :raz:

I'm sure y'all are correct. Thanks.

Wanna know how to pronounce gyro??? Like a gyro sandwich??? The opposte of how I pronounce it, no matter which way I say it :rolleyes::laugh:

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They may be the same but I'm still a bit confused. See this quote from comeundone:

I used Ateco 825 (i.e. open star #5). I'm an advocate of piped on rather than spreaded on frosting. 

See, my recipe books use the numbers she has in brackets, ie. open star #5 and yet on pastrysampler.com #5 is very small. How am I supposed to know that a #5 is actually #825. I'm sorry this is probably a total nubie question but if someone could explain it would really help. I'm not experienced with decorating tips yet and I don't decorate cakes really, I'm using them for mini's so I want to make sure I use the tips specified until I get more familiar.

I also just checked the same site to see if there is a Wilton #5 or #825 open star, and there isn't. So maybe the numbers aren't the same...or not all of them. Please help.

Edited by CanadianBakin' (log)

Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. Orison Swett Marden

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On pastrysampler.com, I found the Ateco 825....

I really wouldn't stress out about tip numbers. Just use the tip you want. Use what you already have, or use what you prefer. Just because someone says you should, or they used a #5 Wilton tip, doesn't mean you have to. You can make your pastry look however you want.

If you don't own any pastry tips, buy a little sampler of them......get some open and closed star tips, both large and small......get some plain tips in differing sizes, and some rose tips in different sizes too. Maybe a couple leaf tips and a couple drop flower tips.....and don't forget a large and a small basketweave tip. Be creative......make your own art.....do whatever you want!

Don't let too many instructions cloud your imagination!!! :rolleyes:

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I second Anne's suggestion. I have a very limited number of tips at my disposal and I just use whichever that seems to be the best for the job.

Actually, when I bought my school starter kit, I was a little confused about the tips as well. Turned out pastry tips are much larger in size than the "cake decorating" tips they sell in craft stores.

Candy Wong

"With a name like Candy, I think I'm destined to make dessert."

Want to know more? Read all about me in my blog.

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Thanks for all your suggestions. I understand about just using the tip that seems best, however in this case I am using recipes from Flo Braker's Sweet Miniatures and I want to use the tips she suggests the first time as these are things I haven't made before and don't know how they are supposed to look. It's not just piping icing but batter, meringue, marshmallow, cookie dough, etc. Maybe I'm a bit anal but there you go. I don't have many tips yet so I have to go out and buy these so I thought I may as well buy the ones she suggests first. I have found a site that lists the dimensions of a few of the more popular Ateco tips so that will help. And I talked to the lady at one of the few stores that has a good selection of tips and she said if I bring my recipe book in that they should be able to figure out what I need from the Wilton line. After I've tried them as is I'll get more creative. :) I do really appreciate the help many of you have given me in numerous threads in thinking outside the box (and recipe). :smile:

Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. Orison Swett Marden

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Well, I got carried away & wrote a whole piping primer so...happy piping to yah!

Canadian Bakin', also you will find that whatever pressure you use will of course influence the piping. I mean you can pipe a big shell out with a little star tip if ypu want. I think your saleslady has the best idea for you--kinda matchy matchy by eye. One other thought for your beginning tool box of thoughts is, for decor, I mean not when you're piping cookie dough, but like with buttercream & stuff, You wanna stretch the icing, not just let it blob out of the tip, y'know? Just tuck that away in the back of your brain, it will come in handy. That's a goal, a piping goal.

Umm, another thing, don't fill the bag past halfway full (as much as every fiber of your being will scream to, "fill it up, FILL IT UP one more spatula full" :rolleyes::laugh: it's an occupational hazard, resist! Trust me on this one. You will have uber control and way less mess.

Or if you are using a momma 18 inch, 24 inch bag, twist off a reasonable amount closer down to the tip in the middle of the payload, then as you get low, squish down more.

Another thought, wind the extra part of the bag, the back end, wind it up tight so that as you pipe, the gentlest pressure from your hand squishes the stuff out. Again, cookie dough is a bit different, but try that with the other commodities you listed. The object of the game is to be able to use your arm & hand again for other things too, like typing, washing dishes, scratching your head, picking your n...oops but really, you want to avoid swelling of the appendages and stiffness from piping wrong. I mean it's different at first, you're just trying to make it happen somehow. But then after that these are some of the practices you want to incorporate into your repetoire. But you should not have to ever pry your hand off the bag, and I'm serious on that one.

But but but the other thing is umm, so hold the bag in one hand -- SideBar, if your icing gets too hot & melty, put on a glove to insulate your hand --so umm, hold the bag in one hand and guide the bag with the pointer finger of the other hand.

The twisting of the bag so that the gentlest pressure squishes out the payload, well that is something you work on, that's a goal. I use paper parchment and fold it up on the end myself. Most people these days starting out use some kind of bag. But the object of the game here is to wind it up and hold the twist secure between your thumb and side of your hand there.

Don't let me mess with your head though--these are fine points, these are goals. This is like learning to play piano with both hands kinda sorta. It just takes a bit of practice. But I just wanted to give you some targets to hit as you go forward. So you develop good piping habits, your hands & arms will love you for it. :laugh:

Oh one other teensy thing, try to move your whole arm, not just your wrist, when applicable. I mean you are doing minis but even so, use your guiding finger for movement and placement and trust the arc of your swinging arm for distance. I stand when I pipe, and I hold my breath too. Piping is rythmic so recite something or mentally sing a few bars or just go doot doot doot doot, 1, 2 3, 4--truly stuff like that works.. And of course, do not bend your wrist back to pipe, bend it in a bit. But truly, these are for going forward--so easy to show you, hope it's not too daunting to read about. But so many people trash out their hands & arms doing this. I just thought I'd toss this out there.

You want to kind of hover over your surface so stand on a coke case or a step of some kind. Or take the pan or cake or whatever you are working on, take it off the turntable, put it on the table. That's crucial, you want your piping surface comfortably under your piping bag and stance. No reaching. :biggrin:

This just came out to be a piping primer--cafeteria style, take it or leave it--just some piping thoughts as you start out. SAVE THE ARM (whale) and all that good stuff. :rolleyes::laugh:

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K8memphis - thanks for the primer. How to pipe without hurting my wrist and arm is actually a major concern so I really appreciate your tips. I have some repetetive strain damage in my right arm, from shoulder to wrist, from a previous job. I had to do 700 chocolate chip cookies last week and knew that scooping them all would kill me but rolling logs and slicing them went fine. I just have to be a bit creative. :)

Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. Orison Swett Marden

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Golda's kitchen has both tips.  You can get an idea from searching there(I know the shipping for ontario isn't bad, not sure about BC).

golda's here

Sandra

Thanks, I did look at her site. I've ordered from her before and shipping to BC is quite expensive.

Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. Orison Swett Marden

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K8memphis - thanks for the primer. How to pipe without hurting my wrist and arm is actually a major concern so I really appreciate your tips. I have some repetetive strain damage in my right arm, from shoulder to wrist, from a previous job. I had to do 700 chocolate chip cookies last week and knew that scooping them all would kill me but rolling logs and slicing them went fine. I just have to be a bit creative. :)

Yay!! You're welcome.

I have the same type issue from clicking the mouse in a previous job...on both right & left :laugh: Yeah, exactly me too, I just have to keep finding ways around my body's little road blocks. Plus a little capzasin, a few ibuprophen, little heating pad, a little ice...blah blah blah :laugh:

That's why I'm so blown away that I've been able to handle this wedding cake work I'm doing for one of my favorite caterers. My office injuries have not affected my cakin'. I been pulling 10 hour days, 30-40 hour weeks, setting up most of them, decorating & delivering lots of them a week, for months now. I guess it's ok to say/think I can still do it.

:biggrin:

Great work around on the 700 cookies.

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