I find that many times when I crumb coat a cake, it is hard to get it iced thinly without pulling the cake off especially on the sides and taking a huge amount of time fixing it. Am I holding the spatula wrong? Should I microwave the frosting for a bit? I am afraid that if I just make the icing thinner, that it won't crust well. I have tried using the wilton large cake icing tip but that seems to put too much icing on the cake and the crumb coat is too thick. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Are you chilling your cakes before you fill and crumb coat? I usually put mine in the freezer to firm up before I crumb coat them. Warm/ room temperature cake is much softer and will tear.

Are you chilling your cakes before you fill and crumb coat? I usually put mine in the freezer to firm up before I crumb coat them. Warm/ room temperature cake is much softer and will tear.

Are you chilling your cakes before you fill and crumb coat? I usually put mine in the freezer to firm up before I crumb coat them. Warm/ room temperature cake is much softer and will tear.

Thin the icing. I believe it is best when it's thin consistency for crumb coating. It will still crust fine. It doesn't have to be thin if you don't want to, but it needs to be easily spreadable. If you leave it medium consistency it may be difficult to spread thin. Just remove some from your bowl and thin it so you aren't thinning all of it.

Yes, I do freeze first but I was still having trouble. OK, I can thin and it will still crust...yea, I think that's the answer!!

I use the large icer tip. No crumb coat needed, just fill the bag and squeeze the icing on the cake. Smooth it out and you're good to go.

But if you want to ice with a spatula it sounds like you're icing is to stiff so thin it out a little more so it's easier to spread around.