Anyone Else Notice Crisco..
Decorating By SweetConfectionsChef Updated 18 Feb 2013 , 5:31pm by dryerson
Hi Ratio Shortening....I am in Canada and we have Bulk Barn here which I imagine the US must have a comparable...we can get high ratio there...they have information sheets on whatever is available there so I thought I'd share the info on HRS...
An all vegetable emulsified shortening with high moisture absorption and creaming properties. Typical application in high ratio cakes and icings, resulting in baked goods that are moist and tender.
High ratio shortening absorbs double or triple the liquid volumes of regular shortenings. It contains an emulsifier that enables it to hold far more liquid in the mix without breaking down. That means extra volume when cakes come from the oven or when you whip up your favorite icings. From birthday cakes to pound cakes you can count on even, fine textures, straight sides, well formed crowns (damn I cut those off lol) and a thin delicious golden brown crust each time you use this product.
KOSHER Product.
So...for those of you that are having the liquidity...that's why....
Anyway...I do apologize if I have doubled anyones efforts on info here...I seriously can't read 179 posts to see what's been said already.
Hopefully this is useful to someone...anyone...
-cp
..... I have to ask those of you with no obvious problems.....What is your secret?? Are you doing something different?? Do you have a different recipe?? Do you put something in to stabilize your recipe usually?? .... Anyone?
Okay, after reading so many complaints here, I was kinda worried - even though I had been using the no-trans-fat Crisco for a short while - so I made a quadruple batch of icing as I have three cakes due tomorrow. THANK GOD everything is exactly as it always is - a great consistency, no air bubbles, and I was able to smooth the cakes using both the high-density foam roller and the spritz method I've used and taught for the past 10 years. Over the weekend, I made several batches of half-butter, half-Crisco buttercream and had no issues either.
The only problem I did have tonight - and this has been plaguing my students for the past couple of months too - is that I could not get the icing to turn violet. I used Americolor's violet, starting with just a drop and working up to about a quarter of the freaking bottle - and the damn icing stayed blue (first pale, then darker as I increased the amount of color). My students all use Wilton colors, and they have failed to get their violet to be violet, too. Only royal icing gets violet, and this is a new phenomenon I've not seen before, so it's got to be the new formulation of Crisco.
Here's my recipe, if anyone wants to try it. Gotta give me credit, though. 
760 g Crisco (4 cups)
1816 g powdered sugar (4 pounds)
12 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp Wilton clear vanilla extract
4 tsp Wilton butter extract
4 generous dashes of salt
I put all the Crisco in the 6 qt. mixer bowl and turn the mixer on speed 3 for about 10 seconds. I then add 3/4 of the powdered sugar and 3/4 of my liquid ingredients, which I put in a glass measuring cup along with the salt so the salt will dissolve. I turn the mixer on stir speed and let it mix for about a minute. I add the remaining sugar and liquids, turn the mixer on to speed 2, and mix for one to two minutes. I then scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and the mixer paddle very well, and mix again on speed 2 for another minute or less. Total mixing time is 5 minutes or under. This prevents the problem of having air bubbles.
This recipe creates a medium consistency buttercream, suitable for icing the cake, borders of all kinds, and even roses if you are quick. To stiffen, add a couple of tablespoons of cornstarch to 2 cups of icing. To thin, add 2 teaspoons of piping gel per cup of icing.
This is the recipe I've been having my students make as their class buttercream icing for the last 10 years, and this is the recipe I use on cakes requiring white icing.
The icing not becoming violet is a clue that the acidity of the new Crisco is different. I think that the violet is less stable when alkaline (as opposed to acidic), but I could be mistaken. If I have time over the weekend (and a tub of violet coloring, I'll experiment. FUN!)
I can't find the original reference I saw for this several months ago, when somebody posted that their purple icing was turning blue.
The lower tolerance for liquid due to the removal of TF, combined with the reduced resistance to temperature seem like very likely culprits in the consistency issues.
I haven't noticed any problems myself, but I haven't done much fancy stuff with BC lately. (Nothing requiring really stiff icing)
RedPanda
The ONLY way that I have ever gotten standard buttercream to actually turn violet is if I use milk instead of water. I was told that the water actually causes the coloring to separate into its original components. Place a drop of violet on a wet paper towel and watch it separate.
VACakelady, milk is probably less likely to prevent violet from staying "true", because this color is sensitive to pH. (If you have water that is particularly hard or soft, it will have an effect.)
On the other hand, the fact that water separates the colors on a paper towel really doesn't show anything, except that the molecules of the different pigments are different sizes. A fun rainy-day activity is to take colored markers (or, apparently, icing colors) and put a dot/drop on a strip of coffee filter. Put the end of the strip in a cup of water, so that the water climbs the paper. As it goes, it will separate the ink into the component pigments, with the lightest pigments being carried the farthest up the paper. Do I know how to have fun, or what?
RedPanda (who used to be a science teacher)
Maybe we should all write crisco and ask them to have "old crisco" along with "new crisco" on the store shelves.
That's what everyone has been doing--emailing Crisco. They have all received phone calls from them telling them they will work on the problem.
Diane
I'm going to go home a check, I had some icing problems the other day and thought it was the weather. Are they eliminating the original Crisco??
They already have.
Diane
I wonder if any other cooks and bakers (besides us decorators) have noticed a difference in their cooking and baking. I'll bet they have. We should all let the people of Crisco know that they should bring back the old and keep the new as well. I think they might if they notice a great big drop in sales! I haven't read all of this post yet so I'm not sure if anyone else has metioned this.
I wonder if any other cooks and bakers (besides us decorators) have noticed a difference in their cooking and baking. I'll bet they have. We should all let the people of Crisco know that they should bring back the old and keep the new as well. I think they might if they notice a great big drop in sales! I haven't read all of this post yet so I'm not sure if anyone else has metioned this.
When I emailed them and later got a return call from them, I was sure to mention that someone on this site had had issues with some biscuits using Grandma's recipe, so that they knew it just wasn't us decorators and our icing. They are being very attentive to our emails and complaints and I personally believe they are really concerned since this is a new product. If enough of us continue to contact them on their site, we could all make a difference together.
Another posted has already mentioned that there may be a remote possibility that they would offer the old stuff to us decorators, but they need to hear from us first! How do you think we got original formula coke back on the shelves???
www.crisco.com
-Michelle
PS- thanks to everyone who has been doing tests and keeping us updated. I have to do some violet this weekend and must say that redpandas comments will prove very useful!!!!!
Well I have tried the Great Value brand today, and I, as I saw a couple others have, find it extremely soft, even in comparison to the newer crisco. Now I have cut down my shortening amount to sugar (not sure exactly how much, by now I can eye up two cups relatively well) but I put in a bit less and it seems to help some. I also find the taste not quite as good with the GV. But this is really peeing me off. Not sure if I should warn clients that this stuff may not be as stable as what they are use to from me.
What would be the difference between butter and shortening? Is whipped cream icing harder to decorate with? New to all this and wanted to know for the future!! I used shortening with my first cake because I was following a receipe but incase I can only find 0 transfat shortening I'd like to know if there is a good substitute!?!
I'm a shortening only icing maker .... butter has a lower melting point than shortening so it doesn't hold up as well in warmer temps. I will rely on the butter icing makers and the butter/shortening makers to fill you in on how it works for them.
I am going to try out my idea of less to no liquid in a recipe this weekend.....I'll let you all know how it goes.
As for the house brands....One thing I noticed is that the amount of TF in them is significantly higher than in Crisco .. bummer. I have also tried them before and found the frosting to really be too soft (tho' not soupy, breakin' down yuck! like the new crisco 
) and some even have a different taste. I was lucky enough to find some at a local warehouse store and am going back to stock up. I made new frosting the other nite with the old stuff and seeing the difference between the 2 was eye opening. Up till then I just could tell it was different from before, but I actually compared the 2 on Wed. 
Huge difference for me.
indydebi...did you make that new batch for your tasting? How did it turn out and how much liquid did you add?
Also, everyone, please remember that this change the company is making in their shortening is due to the fda/government. Smuckers is just trying to bring their product in line with the new regulations. They will not be able to go back to the old formula.......... if anything gets changed it will be something in the new formula, just not the TF. The big question(s) is whether or not Smuckers can (and will) adjust the new formula to give us better results ..... Not whether or not they will give us transfats back in the shortening, because in this they have no control.
....indydebi...did you make that new batch for your tasting? How did it turn out and how much liquid did you add?
.....
I made a batch today and actually measured what I put in (instead of "2 glops from a wooden spoon" and instead of pouring the milk "until it looked right"). to 2 lbs of sugar, I used 1-1/3 cups of crisco and less than 2/3 cup milk, plus 3 tsp of vanilla. It's not crusting as fast as normal, but that's ok for icing the cake ... I'll just add less milk or more sugar to make it stiffer when I make roses. It's crusting ... just not as fast.
What's odd is when I put this very same icing on styrofoam, it gets as hard as concrete within just an hour or so! That aspect hasn't changed. The moisture in the cake must make a diff. Any other thoughts on this?
I'm confused. I thought that the regulation was only that companies now had to list the trans fats on the nutrition labels. From what i've read, the only places required to BAN trans fats are restaurants in NYC. Granted, I realize, it won't take long before every else jumps on this bandwagon. But, as of right now, is there any requirement for these food companies to completely get rid of TF's or do they just have to report them?
I use a butter/shortening mix and like someone else on here (maybe indydebi) I don't use near as much butter/shortening as a lot of these recipes. I only use 1/2 cup of each to 7.5 cups (almost a 2 pound bag) of powdered sugar (and 6-7 tbsp of milk). I don't think I've used the new yet though. They must still have the old at my Kroger. I'll have to check when I get home. I have noticed it being a bit softer, but thought it was just something I did. Maybe I do have the new?
I'm confused. I thought that the regulation was only that companies now had to list the trans fats on the nutrition labels. From what i've read, the only places required to BAN trans fats are restaurants in NYC. Granted, I realize, it won't take long before every else jumps on this bandwagon. But, as of right now, is there any requirement for these food companies to completely get rid of TF's or do they just have to report them?
MandyE, you're right.. 
Altho' there are about 20 other states right now that are lobbying to ban TF also. I think what is happening is the food industry is trying to go along with the fda proposal, and just reporting them does not seem to be enough. Many companies are foreseeing the future and trying to come up with a 'healthy' alternative (read "healthy fat" 
) now so as to not have to make a mad scramble when it does become mandatory or frowned on to have any TF in their product. What is really interesting is that many places are just replacing TF with saturated fats.... these aren't any better for you, cause the same problems, just not quite as 'bad'. I still don't think Smuckers will go back to the original formula because of where this is heading, but it sure would be nice to have the alternative back. After all, if you are eating my cakes, you are DEFINATELY not thinking about the long term ramifications!! 
I went to the store today and bought all the Crisco sticks they had left with out the green label on them. I use those when teaching though or when I am being lazy and don't want to measure.
I also bought two of the 3lb cans because they did not have the green label on them. I might go back this weekend and buy a couple more.
I felt funny stocking up on Crisco, but a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do!
TexasSugar - did you look at the labeling on the back?? Does it have the transfat listed as 0 or 1.5?? They changed the formula before they changed the label....Just an FYI 
As for stocking up, I just bought 4 of the 6# cans of the 1.5 transfat (old formula) and I am going back tonite to buy about 6 more!! They have a shelf date of 2008, so I'm going to store them in a cool, dark place and hope for the best! As you said, " A girls' gotta do what a girls' gotta do!"
TexasSugar - did you look at the labeling on the back?? Does it have the transfat listed as 0 or 1.5?? They changed the formula before they changed the label....Just an FYI
I haven't looked at the new ones, but I did look at the 'old' one I threw out and it was 0 transfat and worked fine for me. It wasn't bought that long ago either, cause I know when I bought the new one I was thinking how I couldn't believe I needed more already.
I'm hoping these will work for me as well. But even if they do I have to figure out how to make the new stuff work so I can pass the information on to my students.
The Crisco I have doesn't say no trans fats on the front but does on the label. I've used two whole 3# cans and just started on the third. I don't notice any difference in taste or consitancy in the can but it does seem like it makes my icings a little softer. By that I mean the liquid I use initially for a dbl batch makes a medium consistancy rather than a stiff icing. But that's fine with me because I don't often need a very stiff icing. .
CarolAnn, your description describes my experience to a tee. I like it and would use nothing else. For me, there simply are no problems worth changing and having no trans fats is a good thing for my health!
I am wondering if adding 1/4 extra cup of crisco would solve the softness problem? Hmmmm, glad this thread was brought up because I want to continue making an excellent buttercream too!
You know...I haven't tried adding extra crisco (hadn't even thought about that) only extra ps. That will be one of my experiments today. Thanks for the idea!! I've read several posts stating that is an option to stablize...has anyone tried it with the 0 transfat? I've never even tried it with my bc. I just can't believe this formula change is causing such havic with my bc! The cakes I sent out yesterday were such a headache! I was at the shop until nearly midnight Friday fighting with this icing!
You might have to go back to what worked for you in the beginning. I am going bacvk to my aldi's brand. That shortening made the best smoothest buttercream icing! And it is only $1.89 a 3lb. can.
I have DEFINITELY noticed the same thing!! I believe it's because they have switched to using soybeans as the vegetable in the "vegetable shortening". Also, I think the WalMart brand of shortening was horrible to work with!
I've had the same problem as you all, I didn't figure it out til I read this thread! The Target brand shortening has trans fat. Just wanted to let you all know. 
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