Tell Me About The Small Wilton Leveler.
Decorating By MrsNancyB1 Updated 28 Sep 2009 , 5:18pm by craftermom
Do you like it? Do you hate it?
I have one that I haven't used, and I've never used it because I thought I baked pretty level cakes myself without the need to cut them. However, the extremely critical eye in me noticed a slight unevenness in my most recent cake.
I've heard great things about the Agbay, but I just can't justify its cost at the moment.
So what do you think of the Wilton leveler?
I really like mine. It helps take the "hump" off the middle of a cake. The largest cake I've ever baked was a 10" and it worked great for that. It isn't large enough for big cakes, and I've heard that the large Wilton leveler isn't very good.
The one with the wire? I think it's fine, I've never had a problem with it.
Of course, my Agbay beats it to a bloody pulp, but if you don't have the $$ and you don't need to level a large cake, I think it's worth it.
for simple small cakes it's just fine --
similar in action to the dental floss/fishing string method (those held taught and used to cut through cake -- or wrapped around cake and then pulled on both ends so they cut cake towards the center)
for big cakes or frozen cakes -- not good.
The Wilton leveler is so inexpensive, less than $5.00 with a coupon at Michael's or JoAnn's. It works fine for me on small cakes and the larger one is OK for the price.
For the price and with a 40% off coupon at Michaels the small leveller is a tool I use all the time. I too cannot justify the agbay yet.
i love it for all my smaller cakes.. agbay for larger cakes.. been using the smaller one for 14 yrs.. i show how to use it in wilton course 1 class. students really like it.. some people don,t like wilton anything.. . that is sad....
Wilton has 2 that I know of. The small one with the wire is pretty useless. The larger one with the knife type cutter is a little better, but I find that the blade tends to carve upwards and I never got a straight cut. Now I just do it with a knife.
I got mine with one of the coupons at Joanns so it was pretty cheap. I just wanted to see how it worked. It was ok...not great. Like the others have said, it worked better for the samll cakes, but not over about 8" for me.
I have the small one and I like it. Works for me, but I don't do large cakes. I have used it on round and rectangular. I am not at a point to buy the $$ one, but I do have two KA's.
I have one and I use it for the small cakes like everyone else has said, for me it is fine. When I need to level a large cake I grab my son's bread knife.
To me, the small one is useless. The wire is so thin and the "feet" are so small and rounded that it doesn't cut straight. It also can't do large cakes. I haven't used mine in years. I love the large one though. I use it for my little 5" squares as well as my 16" squares. It has large, flat feet that keep the blade level and a nice wide, serrated blade.
I have one and I use it for the small cakes like everyone else has said, for me it is fine. When I need to level a large cake I grab my son's bread knife.
I use it both to cut small cakes and for a guide with my 'bread' knife. You need to score the cake with the bread knife before using the leveller, which is a pain, and I also find that you need to rotate it to finish the cut (turn it so you're back tracking over the cut, so the wire will end up where it has already cut (does that makes sense?)). If you don't, you get a chuck of cake coming off as you pull it out. (Or score the opposite side before you start, so there is already a cut made.) Everything has it's quirks, I guess.
Sometimes I'll just use it as a guide when I'm slicing a very small cake. I place it against the cake at the height I need, then place the bread knife against the top of the wire and use that as a level guide to cut. Don't press down on the wire, or you'll be lower than you want, and maybe not level.
As for the big one (with the saw blade), don't waste your money. Starts out fine, but once it's inside the cake, the feet start to lift off the table, and/or the blade bends upwards inside the cake, so it's not level at all. There's no way to maintain the pressure of the blade in the middle of a large cake. I can't afford the Agbay right now, but will in the future, should this 'cake thing' take off for me.
When using the large leveler, I find it works best to hold it on the sides instead of the top of the handle. I also score the cake at the level of the blade like CutiePie mentioned. I get great results with it doing these 2 things.
I have both Wilton levelers and like them. I use the small one all the time...it's the one that I automatically reach for. Part of that is because my kitchen is small and it's hard to fit the big one on my counter. When I use both of them, I keep the cake on a thin flexible mat and I turn the cake so that the leveler is going through sideways, after the initial cut.
I bought the small leveler about 10 years ago and it lasted for 8 years...then the wire snapped and I bought another. It was still about three dollars, just like it was ten years ago.
I have the small wilton leveler but i always have a hard time leveling my cakes. I usually have to get a bread knife to finish the leveling my cakes maybe i am not doing something right. I got frustrated and stop using it.
I make small cakes (10" and smaller) and I love my leveler! It's only $3 and it is much easier to use this than trying to use floss or string.
The small one is ok but the large one is going in the trash. It wouldn't cut straight so I gave up and did a much better job with my bread knife.
i like the small wire leveler. when using it for small 4" to 8" cakes. anything larger than that its hard to move back and forth so you end up pulling and ripping the cake. but i do like it..
the handle also tends to bend and the wire becomes loose and doesnt ever seem to work right again. i always have 3 or 4 on hand tho. i dont make large cakes so i have no need for the ginormous levelers
I have both of Wilton's. I use the smallest most often and have never had a problem with it. I actually have two and when I was working on a wedding cake this weekend I use both. One set to torte the cake and the other set to trim the tops to make them all even (oven isn't level). Worked great.
I got the smaller one first, tried to use it one time, said a few choice words and it (as a PP said) became a filler in my trash can.
I bought the larger one and I love it!! I don't have any problems with it, it's all in how you use it. I typically am using it to cut my cakes to fill, since when they come out of the oven I put a cake circle on them and a can of veggies. That usually takes care of any dome that might have been in the middle.
I can't justify the price of an Agbay and don't need to since the large Wilton lever works just fine.
i have the larger one with the serrated cutting edge like a knife, and i really get on well with it, AS LONG AS USED ON WARM CAKE ONLY!!!! I learnt this thru trial and error, i split and level my cakes straight out the oven when hot and i find it very effective and easy
To be blunt - It sucks. The large one isn't much better. Go with an Agbay. They are pricey but worth the cost.
I love it! When I torte my 8" cakes in my class, all the students are amazed at how clean of a cut it creates. Most of them run right out and buy it.
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