This might sound weird, but when I've made buttercream in Arizona, it comes out a little grainy. When I'm in Minnesota, no problem. Could it be humidity?? I just assumed it was my mixer (have KA in MN). Maybe just more moisture??

I've found that creaming the butter (or shortening) for a few minutes and then slowly adding all of the powdered sugary before adding the liquid makes a big difference in the grainy texture. HTH.

Hi everyone, i decided to post this question here because you guys are talking about the Walmart Shortening. My question is which Walmart brand do you guys buy to make your BC? I was at Walmart during my lunch break, and I was going to buy it. There was the Walmart Brand veg shortening and the Walmart brand shortening (which is prepared from meat fats and veg oil) The veg shortening is just like Crisco. They have the same ingredients. I hate the BC that I make with Crisco. I wanted to make some with high ratio shortening, but global sugar doesnt have it in stock for the summer. I dont want to order it online and get a tub of melted shortening and my local cake supply store doesnt cary it. the closest place to me would be in Bensalem PA ( I think). (not at all familiar with any other cake supply stores in the south jersey area.)

Thanks for reading the long post.

Jeannem- I think there is something wrong with az air! lol it has to be the lack of moisture because i've tried almost every tip everyone has given me and none of them work!!! i dont doubt the tips are very good ones, i just really think its the az heat and dryness! i found another person on cc who lives in my area and she said she hardly ever uses bc because hers comes out grainy too. and another girl in my area shared her bc recipe with me so hopefully that works for me.

THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR YOUR HELP!!! I'LL LET YOU KNOW WHEN I FINALLY GET BC RIGHT!!!!!

I read like your first two posts Angela...is it your Crisco? ARe you buying the cheap kind from Walmart that has no name? The only shortening I've bought from Walmart is grainy..it's not the sugar.

I hope this helps!

Hi, I have been reading all of this and wondering...

Today I made a peanut butter frosting with a stick of butter, cup of pb, 2 cups of ps, vanilla,3-4 tbsps of milk. I dont know if this is considered a buttercream recipe or not but it came out very grainy. I have made it before and dont remember that happening. It is REALLY humid here today and I dont have Air conditioning at the moment. Could that be the reason? Is there a way to save it? Should I have mixed it really long like I do my regular buttercream (I use sugarshacks)?

Thanks!

This is so funny!!! We all have tips that contradict someone else's tips! I ALWAYS use walmart brand PS, 100% beet sugar. I tried to use domino when I started charging more for my cakes, and wound up with grit. I get grit from crisco as well, but FYI, WALMART BRAND NOW CONTAINS NO TRANS FATS!!! Very upset about it, but switched to Kroger brand(Chain grocery store in the greater Cincinnati area)

Never buy the meat fat shortening!! Ugh! it is clearish, like dead jelly fish!

Have you tried adding the liquid warm? I was having the same problem this past weekend with the grainy texture. Someone on here told me to try warming the milk and then adding it. It worked for me. HTH

annacakes79- I just bought the walmart brand the other day and it still has transfat! maybe the change hasnt hit phoenix yet

I just came back from my favorite store, (yeah that store would be Walmart) and I got the Walmart brand veg shortening. ( I should of said ewww in my original post about the walmart shortening thats made with the meat fat, again EWWWWWWWWW).
I have the nutritional facts for the veg shortening in front of me and it had 2g trans fat along with all the other stuff that can cause artery blockage!!!! Luckly we dont eat the buttercream by the bucket full here........ we just finger taste.....

Denise

I tried using the "new" crisco without trans fat and it just broke down into a watery mess. Even with the butter that I add into my buttercream, it didn't help counteract the crisco problem. In all my years, never seen anything like it. I have a HUGE tub of it in my fridge and don't know what I can do with it, maybe use it as a door stop. I don't even trust it to grease pans.
I use the walmart shortening (here in NC it still has trans fat, thank goodness). It works great for my recipe. Never gritty. Oh, I use the Walmart PS too. I do warm my liquid before adding. It does help.

Instead of ordering hi-ratio, i could just order some great value, from AZ. I was actually born at the pima county university hospital in tucsan, Lived in ky for 20 years now.