With the prices of everything going up, I am trying to cut my costs alittle bit without compromising the taste of my cakes or icing. I have always used criso, but have been considering trying a generic brand. Do you get the same texture/taste with the generic brands??
THANKS!!!

I haven't found any difference. I too was buying only Crisco, until they came out with the no trans fat. I've been using generic since then with no difference that I can tell....

i've been waiting to finish the Crisco I have so I can try the generic. I bet it works the same or better.

I had switched to generic after the no trans fat thing happened. Then about 2months ago my husband bought Crisco instead of generic and I was upset................then after I used it I immediately could tell the difference. The Crisco tasted better (didn't leave greasy taste) it whipped up much fluffier. It also smoothed out better. So since then I have switched back to Crisco. Maybe there is another generic brand that works better......just not the one I was using (HEB brand or Wal Mart brand).

I've never bought Crisco, only generic. It's always worked great. Just be sure you buy ALL-VEGETABLE shortening. Some brands come with animal fat - won't make that mistake again!

I used some of the Walmart (Great Value) and it was absolutely nasty...I had to throw out the icing I made with it, and then the shortening. The stuff coated my mixing bowl with a quarter inch of grease! Never again, I'm sticking to Crisco!

I made the mistake of using generic and the icing was a disaster!! Not fluffy at all...real soft and mushy. Didn;t hold up at all. EWWWW!!

I'm using a can of GV now after hearing several on this site say how they liked it. It is much softer than Crisco.
It is rather easy to put the fat back into Crisco by adding a couple of tablespoons milk or cream.
I don't think I'll use GV again It is very soft, but right now I'm not making any cakes so we'll see if/when I do get back to baking

I had always used the solid vegetable shortening Great Value brand from WalMart because of the price difference, but last time I splurged and bought a can of Crisco and was amazed at the difference in the taste. The Crisco was way better. Once I bought a generic brand at a grocery store and my bc had the nastiest taste, it tasted stale and old and gross, I won't make that mistake again. I have recently been using the Crusting Buttercream recipe from this site and it is awesome!

BE CAREFUL with Walmart shortening. I too was one of the ones that switched to the Walmart brand, all-vegetable shortening because it HAD trans fats still in it.

I was buying some the other day and for some reason decided to check the label - ZERO TRANS FAT!!!!! I was so mad.

Just check the label, bottom line....

I too decided to try generic brands & see what would happen. I bought the GV from Wal-mart & didn't really notice a difference from Crisco. Since it worked well, I bought another generic can from Walmart but then...... it was MUCH different, softer, greasier, etc. HORRIBLE! That's when I noticed that Walmart actually has TWO different types of generic shortening (which would make sense of the mixed responses about it here), they are sitting right next to each other on the shelf & look almost the same so it's hard to notice there are two types. One is in a light blue can & has zero trans-fat (this is the bad one), the other is in a dark blue can & has 2.5g trans fat (this is the good one).

One is ALL VEGETABLE shortening, now w/ zero trans fat. The other has meat-based fats in it - do NOT use that in your buttercream! yuck...

Hmmmm.... I'll have to look the next time I go to Wal-mart (I went back to Crisco so that's all I have here). I could have sworn the dark blue can (good one) said "All Vegetable", but I could be wrong.

There's definitely nodifference. I switched to generic after crisco went to the No Trans Fat. My fav generic brand is the Wal-Mart brand.

so sorry OP to hijack ur thread... but i have a quick (dumb newbie ) question. i currently use "earth balance" margarine- a healthy brand, no trans fats, for making my icing. my icing softens really quickly and doesnt really hold up, im assuming the brand is the culprit here, right? would switching to real butter help? i am not about to start using crisco. TIA

I would say margarine, not the brand, is the culprit, period. Any brand of margarine, even refrigerated, never hardens like butter - therefore the softening problem.

I tried the walmart brand right after the switch and it was horrible! Too soft, greasy... the icing had a wet look to it! yuck! i went back to crisco, you just have to cut back on it and use milk instead of water to add some fats back in.

To be honest, I never knew until now that there was no trans fat in criso. I've seen it on the can, never gave it a second thought. I still use the same amt of criso and milk, I haven't noticed any difference in my icing. OK dumb question , what does the trans fat do? Is it for crusting? Mine still crusts well and smooths easily.

Okay, just got back from Wal-mart (I'm there almost every day!) & took a look at those cans while I was there. The dark blue one (the one I said worked okay) IS the "All vegetable" & has 2.5 trans fat.

The light blue one is the one that has meat fats (says it right on the front - eww!) and zero trans fat. Those two things put together, the light blue can is probably the one everyone is having issues with. So, if you're going generic - get the dark blue can that says "All Vegetable" and it should be better.

Well you definitely don't want to use the one with meat fat - yuck! But the one I had bad results with was the all vegetable shortening. It's possible it's humid where I live and that's part of the problem?

It could be the humidity, I've noticed that both my icings & fondant are harder to work with when it's humid or rainy outside.

Probably! I can't even use MMF. What I ended up doing to use it up was mixing 3/5 new crisco with 2/5 walmart shortening. It was more manageable.

I alos find Walmart brand to be very soft, and "wet looking" describes it perfectly! I do still use it....

I managed to find 5 small cans of the original Crisco at H-E-B last week! Whoo Hoo!

i tried using generic once, never again. but its like alot of other things you just have to try it and see for yourself, you might like it better.

so for those of you that use the new Criso, how do you make it work? Just add milk? How much per cup of Crisco? Is that all you add? I use the generic WalMart brand, and it is ok, but I would like to go back to Crisco if possible. Thank you!

I used crisco religiously until the change- I didn't believe anyone that it made a difference in no trans fat. BUT then....... I lived in a high humidity area and for 3 months my cakes wouldn't get perfect-corners weren't sharp enough- I thought I was losing my touch.......Then finally one wedding cake literally puddled under the fondant- it was raining that day. I switched and realized what a big difference it makes. I wouldn't go back to Crisco if it were free- it isn't dependable enough. But, I prefer high density shortening- or generic period. The change to deal with the taste , is I always use half real butter now. With Crisco I didn't have to do that. I'm thinking that using crisco also depends on the type of decorating you do.

There was a post just yesterday about Aldi's shortening. It is supposed to be really good and cheap!!
Someone else posted that their powdered sugar is also good and they have sales where it is on .88 for a 2lb bag!!

I have used the Wal-Mart brand, all vegetable, and the only problem I had was the it wasn't white enough. Crisco is bright white!

Oh, and someone wrote that the Aldi brand cake mixes are great too! I don't know but I am now planning a trip to the nearest Aldi's!!

I always get my p. sugar at aldi's! I have never noticed a differance if I use generic sugar

I use the Wal Mart and Target brand and do not notice a difference when i switched from Crisco