Hi again! Okay so, soonish I'm getting spoiled with an Agbay cake cutter I think.
I am afraid of knives (I know...) have little time w/ 3 munchkins, and am a horrid cake cutter. Therefore, I am madly in love with the double bladed Agbay.

SO, QUESTIONS: With Magic Line pans, I have learned from researching CC that I will still need a flower nail or heating core if over approx 10" I think.
Do I still need to wrap the outside with cooling strips?

RE: AGBAY - with all of the fuss mentioned above, do I need to cut the top off of the cake or can I just cut through the middle as a torte?

If I can save the $100 extra and put it toward an airbrush (any recommendations?) I would be thrilled to do so, but would rather just get the Double Bladed Agbay if it will save me from having to readjust the scary knife blade twice for one cake.

Sorry, I know I'm wordy. But thank you in advance for looking and sharing your thoughts. I GREATLY appreciate it all! HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! -Laura

If you have the double blade Agbay (which I have and love) then you can cut the top off and torte all with one pass. It's definitely a time saver. If you have the singe blade, then yes, if you torte your cakes, you will need to adjust the blade to level the top and then readjust to torte. It might add another minute or two to the whole process, so it really just depends on if you don't want to have to adjust twice per cake. They are super easy to adjust, but I do have to say I love my double blade.

As far as airbrush recommendations, I just bought a Salon Air system a couple of months ago. I haven't used it a ton, but when I have it really is a fun tool and I can't wait to use it more. I'm happy with its performance so far, but again, I've only had it for a couple months, so can't say how it will hold up long term as of yet.

For the pans, I always use flower nails, in fact I use 3-4 depending on the size of a cake. For a 10-inch cake, I use at least 3 in them. I stopped using heating cores a long time ago. I don't like them and feel like that big hole in the cake weakens its structure, but that's just me. I also stopped using baking strips. I never saw enough of a difference in my cakes to justify the hassle they are wrapping them around a cake pan. Again, that's just me. I know some people who swear by heating cores and baking strips, so it's just a personal thing.

HTH!

Tootie, thank you so much, that helps TONS! (AND I agree with your quote!) I really appreciate you taking the time to reply! Anyone else?

I have the single blade agbay and its very easy to adjust the blade. I torte most of my cakes, and what i do, is just level all layers then adjust and come back and torte.

If you are just a hobbyist like i am, a single should be just fine for you. Unless you have an extra $100 to throw around, then my hats off to you. When i bought mine there was only a single blade model.

Peg, I'm sorry I missed your input! Thank you for taking the time to respond! That helps bunches too! I am just a hobbyist, and generally don't have the extra to throw around. I try to get input on here whenever I can. December held b-days as well as Christmas for me and am trying to spread my tiny windfall around carefully. I really appreciate the response. I'm not sure why I generally only get one or two responses, but they mean a lot to me. -Laura

I have the double Agbay and totally love it. But I'm reasonably high volume.

I don't understand all the blade adjustment comments for torting and leveling with the single blade. Wouldn't you just set the layer on the counter and run the Agbay thru it, lift off the top, set that on the counter and run the Agbay thru that? What's with all the adjusting? Why is there a need to level first, then torte?