I use bubble tea straws as my supports and I was just wondering how everyone else that uses them, gets them to sit level? So that when you set it on a flat surface the straw is perfectly vertical. My straws are not 100% vertical as is so I sit there at eye level trying to level them because I'm afraid that if they aren't perfectly level, they could get shifted once in the cake. Do they have to be 100% vertical or is almost good enough???

I don't use them (I use wooden dowels or the thick sucker type sticks) but I have often wondered about the stabilty of the soba straws...I will deff keep an eye on this post.

I use straws but not bubble tea straws. I cannot find them in my area. I have a friend that owns a resturant and catering business and I order straws thru her business. They are drinking straws but alot wider than the average drinking straws. They look much like McDonald's straws but maybe just a bit wider.

I don't have any trouble with mine being level. I just took one out to look at it and I even put the level on it. It sits perfectly level. I've used these straws for over a year now and I've never had a cake to shift or collapase on me. I've made several 3 tiered cakes and used the straws in them as well as all of my two tiered cakes. I have a few tiered cakes in my photos and all of them have these straws as supports.

In my opinion, they are more stable to use than wooden dowels because they fill up with cake rather than displace cake. I just prefer using them and they've never failed me. They're so much easier to cut than dowels.

mamarobin- what kind of straws do you use? I just went to a fair that we have in our city (this is a you know you're a cake decorator when moment) and they had straws that were really wide and really thick. I asked where they got them, but they were young and had no idea. I'm wondering if they were like the straws you get.

I use bubble straws and I get them from my local asian market. Super cheap, I think maybe 100 for $1.50.

I found the straws at the asian grocery store. When I got there, the lady(owner) was asking if I made cakes, I said yes, how did you know? she said a lot of cakers have been looking for the straws and they're finding them there only in the city. I called like 7 stores looking. They were super cheap too and had different lengths.

I don't like dowels b/c I have this feeling of someone getting a splinter in their cake. Silly I know