How do I get red buttercream? Do I have to use a ton of color gel or is there another way to get RED buttercream? Thanks for any imput!

The first time I made red BC (did a Little Einstein rocket cake for my DS few yrs ago), I used powdered food coloring, I made it few days before I intended to ice the cake, and the color deepened after a couple of days. You'll get like dark pink in the beginning, don't fret, just leave it for a few days before it turns red.
Needless to say, I did not taste the cake at all, donated the whole cake to a relative (DS was still a baby so didn't want to feed him so much food coloring) so I don't know if the red tasted weird or yucky.

I do know now, that Americolor has a Super Red color, that some people say has no taste (I've used it before and I think the same).. So the key is to color your icing few days in advance, and wait for it to darken.

HTH!

Yes...i use americolor. It looks kind of pink at first, but after an hour or so it turns all the way red. It doesn't affect the flavor. It doesn't take too too much to make it red. Just keep going till you get it red. I have used wilton red before. I used the no-taste red, and then some red-red. But it took a lot. I think the entire jar of the no-taste red, and i still had to add the other. It was a long time ago, but i'm pretty sure that is why i used the two together. Hope this helps.

I prefer Americolor gels but want to try Chefmaster color because I've heard really good things about them too. Do let your color deepen overnight...it will get red.

One thing to remember, is that if you are concerned about the taste...or if you just don't want everyone to have red tongues and teeth...make the colored frosting the very last one or two thin layers of buttercream on your cake. I always frost with regular BC, let it harden in the fridge and then put on any highly covered BC at the very end. You don't have to make as much colored BC and really, it doesn't take too much to cover your cake. I do it for all my colored cakes as I don't use fondant and I do think a lot of food coloring--particularly the red and black colors--affects the taste of buttercream.
Just an FYI!

Americolor tulip red also has no taste. Like everyone else said, you have to make it at least 1-2 days in advance so the color deepens. Super red works great, too.

One other suggestion that helped me was to start by making the icing pink first. Then it will not require as much red coloring to get it where you need it. Good luck!