I was thinking about using hi-ratio instead of crisco ((walmart brand)) of shorting..I'm curious what the price difference is. From what I hear there is a place about 1/2 hr away that sells it but I don't know how much it costs. Is it really expensive?

I was curious about hi ratio shortening so i bought a 3 lb tub for $7.99. Haven't used it yet though, and i have no idea how much crisco is.

It seems like most places sell the 3-lb tubs for $7-$8. No one around me carries it so I have to order it -- with shipping I end up paying about $16-$17.

Sarah

I only know that the cost of a 50 lb. box of Sweetex hi-ratio has shot through the roof over the last 5-6 months! I think the last time I checked it was nearing $150. I've since begun using hi-ratio only for wedding cakes or more elaborate cakes, and make myself happy using crisco on sheet cakes and other simple cakes. Hi-ratio really is a dream to work with though!!!

Do you have a restaurant supply or a wholesale food supply? We have a Cash 'N Carry & I asked if I could get hi-ratio. It was called Cake & Icing Shortening, but it was about 1/2 the price of Sweetex & it works like a charm, no aftertaste & soooooo smooth. The brand was Wesson Super Quik Blend

Another thing to factor in is that while it costs more, you use less per batch...

There's a cake supply store about 30-40 mins away from me so I emailed them to see if they carried it and they do. It's $5.50 per Kg, which equals about 2.2 pounds.
Does anyone happen to know how many batches I could get out of that? I tried looking for an online conversion to find out how many cups that equalled but I had no luck.
(I'm in Canada BTW)

JulyMama:
The recipe I use calls for 2 cups of Hi ratio, which is 16 oz or 1lb. So per KG you could get 2 batches. My recipe make a 5 lbs batch!! Love the smoothness of it. Even tho I hobby decorate, I still use it.

Hi JulyMama,

I believe that the weight of high ratio shortening is the same if not similar to reg shortening (ie crisco) so in that case 1 cup is approx 195g (I sat down and figured that out ages ago from a crisco can (yup, nothing better to do ). So for 1 kg you would have approx 5 cups.

I just double checked my #'s with one of sugarshack's recipes here and it is almost exactly the same.

I think with here's it yielded 5.05 cups, mine 5.1 cups.


1 cup = 195 g = 6.9 oz therefore

1kg = 35.3 oz = 5.1 cups



According to this recipe:
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-7325-0-Sugarshacks-Buttercream-for-a-6qt-Mixer.html

6 ½ cups Hi-Ratio Shortening =2 lbs and 13 ½ oz = 45.5 oz therefore,
1 cup = 7 oz = 198g and
1kg = 5.05 cups

HTH!

so when you use hi ratio instead of commonly known crisco/shortening etc.. i thought i read somewhere you use less? this is with or w/o butter? sorry never used hi ratio not even sure i can find it up in my neck-a da woods......

I wonder if I can find it here where I live. Does the container say that the shortening is hi-ratio on it. I have never bought it before. What am I looking for? Brand names?

Thanks, Carol

Sweetex and Alpine are 2 brands. There are others though.

i found a cash and carry (URM) about an hour from me. will have to wait to find out of they carry what i need though

FYI to answer a previously asked question: you can freeze the stuff to extend the shelf life. I do that cuz I usually make IMBC but like to have some HR on hand. I even froze my 1-lb package from the cake store! Just bought a 3-lb pk for $7.50 and need to freeze it soon. I portion it out into 1-cup blobs (using a scale, and saran wrap) and wrap each blob up tightly, put them all in a big ziploc and freeze. Good for peace of mind. I have had some go rancid on me before but I cannot recall how long I had it. Usually if you purchase in small quantities, your retailer has portioned it out from a bigger batch, so you don't really know how long it's been around.

I remember reading in another post that the shelf life is about a year but as ceshell says you don't know how long the retailer has had it on the shelf if it was split up from a larger batch.

Ceshell, I'm pretty sure I asked you this already but did the shortening smell off when it went bad or did it just not taste right. I've had some for a while and have just not had the chance to use it. I opened it up to smell it last week and I couldn't smell anything at all, so I'm hoping it's still good.

I couldn't find the last thread....

I've had it go bad twice. Once in my cupboard, once immediately after I purchased it from the store.

The one in my cupboard definitely smelled off. I was hoping it was my imagination so I used just a little bit...but nope, it was bad. It was my first experience with HR and it wasn't Sweetex (it was CK brand) so I don't know if that had anything to do w/it since most people swear by Alpine or Sweetex. I just bought more on Saturday but haven't tried it yet, it will be enlightening to know if it's actually a BRAND problem.

Anyway, the other one I bought was a 1lb container of Sweetex. The cake shop had portioned it out and kept it in their fridge. For that one, there was NO off smell; that's the one where the manager on duty reluctantly refunded my money but seemed to think I was trying to cheat her. Because it had no odor whatsoever. But that rancid taste is unmistakable, at least to me (the other thread you're thinking of, my DH did not detect the difference even in taste but it gave me the shivers so I chucked it.)

I'd say make a mini, mini, mini batch of icing. You know, just a 1/4c of HR and 1/4 of butter (or even 1/8+1/8 ), a little milk, and add PS to taste. Don't try to taste the HR all by itself to see if you can detect any problems. Ask me how I know that .

I get HR, Sweetex at Gordon Foods. It sells for $73.00 for 50 lbs.

What's Gordon Foods? I looked on-line but couldn't find Sweetex on there. Maybe I'm looking at the wrong one.

I did find it at fondant source and they also have 10% if you enter cakecentral in the coupon code. Great service too! Maybe I'll have to order me some after I try the one my MIL brought me (don't know which brand it was though).

I posted something on here a few days ago about this. I was asking if high ratio brand mattered or as long as it's high ratio does it work the same? No one really knew. I found a place online called Chocolate Shop and they have hr 50lb for under $60. Well shipping is where you get dinked of course, but still I couldn't find it for cheaper than $80 just the bucket without shipping so I saved a few bucks. But I did find some sweetex 3lb for $11.00. I thought that was a bit much. Also sugarshack uses only shortening no butter. Hmmm... it is very smooth though I love working with it. Tried it for the first time last week and fell in love with it. So I decided to but me a 50 lb tub from that place I told you.

Gordon Foods is a bulk supplier that services businesses and the public, we have one in our town. They do not advertise the HR. I had to call there and order it, which they had it in the next day.

I just received a 50# tub of icing shortening (free) from a friend & have never used it before. I can't wait & want to make some today. Do you use less & if so, how much?

Newnancy, free is always good!

I would like to know about the measurement too, do you use it just like regular shortening?

The cheapest I've seen in my area lately is 79.00 for 50lbs. The price has gone up a great deal since last year, not sure what's going on, but I have to have it, I will not use anything else.

FYI: The cake & icing shortening I got is called Elite Vreamay by Bunge Oils out of St. Louis, MO. Maybe somebody in that area can get it locally.

I got this recipe from a fellow CC here and just love it. I sub the flavoring out with almond, vanilla or what ever you choose.

2 cups Sweetx Hi-Ratio (makes a huge difference!)
1 8 oz. brick Philly Cream Cheese, softened
1 TBS. Magic Line Butter Vanilla flavoring (Country Kitchen)
3 lbs. Baker/Chef Powdered Sugar (Sam's Club)
1 Tsp. white popcorn salt ( it's finer)
1/4 cup whipping cream (can use non-dairy creamer-last time I used ameretto coffee creamer)

Mix hi-ratio and cream cheese together at #4 for a couple of minutes. Add flavoring, mix again. Whisk the salt into the powdered sugar and while mixer is at stir, add it slowly to the mixer bowl alternating with the whipping cream. Once all blended, turn mixer up to 4-5 and let her go for about 5 minutes. Let rest awhile. I got one of those beater blades with the scraper built in and I LOVE it! Less air in whatever you make. I also stir with a spatula right before applying to cakes to minimize air bubbles. The ratio of sugar to cream cheese is so high that I have never had problems with spoiling even after 5 days of sitting on my counter. But I cautiously refrigerate any leftovers and use again.

There are also multiple recipes if you search for them online.

HTH

Not sure of the ordering and shipping details I found some great prices at this site:

http://www.stovercompany.com/Product.aspx?PageID=433