Another vote for crap. I thought it was me at first. The small one works great for me, though. On larger tiers, I use dental floss. A friend told me a while back that she used piano wire and that worked fantastic. Haven't tried that yet.

Not to hijack the thread, or anything, but can you use any kind of plain dental floss to torte a cake? I'm kinda nervous about torting a 14in cake tonight and don't really want to buy the large Wilton leveler. I'm also afraid of using my bread knife because it isn't very long.

I gave the large Wilton a real chance I wanted to like it I really did, BUT it did not work for me. I cannot cut straight for anything so I saved my money and bought what I really wanted an Agbay. I had wanted one for a while and every time I went to order it I thought do I really do enough cakes to justify this? Then the next time I had yet another lopsided cake I would say I am ordering a Agbay tomorrow. This went on for a while until I finally did it and let me tell you I have never regretted that decision. It is like my little bit of sanity when I am doing a cake. I also like the small Wilton but I havent used it since my Agbay arrived. I do have a little bit of guilt because I sold my large Wilton in a garage sale - I hope they had better luck than me.

I gave the large Wilton a real chance I wanted to like it I really did, BUT it did not work for me. I cannot cut straight for anything so I saved my money and bought what I really wanted an Agbay. I had wanted one for a while and every time I went to order it I thought do I really do enough cakes to justify this? Then the next time I had yet another lopsided cake I would say I am ordering a Agbay tomorrow. This went on for a while until I finally did it and let me tell you I have never regretted that decision. It is like my little bit of sanity when I am doing a cake. I also like the small Wilton but I havent used it since my Agbay arrived. I do have a little bit of guilt because I sold my large Wilton in a garage sale - I hope they had better luck than me.

I do have one, i generally just guide it with my hands as I use it.it's not great but its just ok for me,could be better.

I do level and torte a lot with my serrated knife though.

I have the small leveler, and hate it. On a flat surface, I can't even get it to cut a straight line. I just use my bread knife and a turntable now. If I get a real bakery someday, I'll definetly have an Agbay.

Is this our only choice when it comes to cake levellers? The cheap doesn't work wilton one, or the arm and a leg cuts like butter agbay?
Is there any other brands out there? I can't afford an agbay, and they don't even have one on ebay!

I've used mine like 5 times and don't have a problem with it. Go slow, keep both sides on a flat surface and its fine. I was using it with WASC so maybe if it was a denser cake it would be a problem. I'm usually not a Wilton fan so I was surprised I liked this.

It's definitely not stiff enough. Would never recommend it to anyone.

I can't say that I've ever had a problem with the wilton one...as long as it was in the right notches and the feet were on the correct end to keep it from slipping out and I make slow sawing motions. However, now I'm going to be worried that the next torte will be a disaster. I'm definitely interested in the agbay...

The one on the Amazon site is not that much less expensive than the Agbay I would go w/ one that has proven itself.

In my experience, the wilton one is great with dense cakes. In lighter cakes, it will just ruin the edges.

I agree its THE most useless piece of equipment I have ever bought. And FWIW, mine did NOT work on a dense cake either - the blade just twisted and flipped upwards, creating a huge freaking mess!

I have only had small probs with it. If I didn't wrap my cake with plastic wrap after baking, the edges would get harder and it would rip off the edge instead of cutting. Then I learned to wrap after breaking and got moister cakes and the levler works great!

Yea! I just sprung for the Agbay - it looks great! Now, if I can just put it together!!! PAT

I also think it's a piece of garbage. I finally donated mine to the thrift store. Now someone else will get the curse of the bad leveler.

I want an Agbay so badly!! I don't have the large leveler but I find I do a better job with a bread knife than with the small leveler that I DO have. I'm asking for an Agbay for Christmas. Oh! And that adorable crepe maker from the King Arthur catalog!

I too have problems with the large one, small one works fine for me though. would also like to get an agbay one day.

I hate the large wilton leveler, it does not work on any type of cake. Now I just score all around and use dental floss, cuts straight thru with no mess and very even

I have to disagree with the Wilton leveler being crap. I have the smaller one and have had no problem with torting my cakes. I usually leave the cake on my turntable and run the wire around the edges first before pushing the cake through the wire to cut it completely. They have always come out perfect.

Thanks for the tip about the floss, Patty.

I HATE the large Wilton "leveler" (if it can even be called that.) Love the small one, though.

I too can only dream of an Agbay...
I only do cakes for fun though so, I will continue struggling with the Wilton leveler

well...after reading this post, i'm having doubts about this wilton leveler. i just purchased mine, but haven't used it yet. i don't know if i want to keep it now...and maybe just get my money back and save up for an agbay.

Diane - I wished I had known in advance how cruddy it was. I would also be saving up for an Agbay.