Why Use Bubble Tea Straws Instead Of Dowels?
Decorating By zinger60 Updated 30 Jan 2011 , 2:47am by Niki11784
Bubble tea straws will fill slightly with cake which makes them more stable`and since they are plastic won't absorb moisture from the cake. They are easy to cut.
Dowels are harder to cut and can go in at an angle very easily. They push the cake out of the way as they go in so are less stable.
HTH
Kristy
AH...found them on amazon. Now that I know what they are I can keep an eye out for them. I couldn't even visualize them. Thanks! 
Easier to cut. Have found them At local grocery store and at bed bath and beyond. No splinters. What more can I say?
i found mine at our local dollar store.. quite the find too considering i live in a very rural area- an hour from even the nearest walmart/ store bought fondant etc lol..
Which dollar store? we order online but the shipping is no fun 
I'd love to find them at a dollar store. We have dollar tree here.
I just picked up a pack of 50 at Bed Bath and Beyond for $1.99
Anxious to try these after hearing the good reviews versus the wooden dowels, which is all I've ever used.
They are so much easier to cut than wooden dowels and they do not splinter as dowels sometimes do..what section at bed bath and beyond did you find the straws..Katsuitecakes thx
They have a wall full of kitchen odds and ends which was right by all of the Wilton pans and products. They are all bright primary colors, so they're easy to spot.
the displacement problem is why i switched. i still use dowels for heavy cakes and such but tend to use more straws then not.
the dollar store we have i dont think is one of a chain. i think its just one a lady started up but i'll check when i go in to town next time.
I found bubble tea straws at my local Asian grocery store where I can get 100 for $1.29. You might also consider contacting Chinese restaurants as more and more are offering bubble tea as a beverage (it originated in Taiwan). They may have an inexpensive source for straws.
As for how to tell if you have sturdy or not-so-sturdy straws, the ones I have feel pretty stiff when I try to squish them around the middle. They feel stronger than a McDonald's straw would, for example. But they are still cut-able (if that's a word) with regular scissors. I just measured one and it is about 1.2 centimeters in diameter (no longer perfectly round after I squished it!). I am very comfortable using them for stacking tiers.
I get 600 for $7 at the real canadian wholesale
looked up on google and there are different sizes of straws. can someone tell me whether there is a specfic size (diameter, etc, thickness) if you have a pic please send me. at our grocery store, there are about 3 different sizes. are the broader ones better?
My question is (I have recently brought bubble straws but have not yet used them), when doing a double or triple cake the bubble straws are much shorter than the dowel rods so therefore I can see that they will be alright for the first layer but be too short for the second layer or third layer. Can someone let me know?
Thanks in advance!
Standard bubble tea straws are 1/2" in diameter. Make sure you get the ones that are long enough to get two when you cut them in half. some are under 8" long and one end has a slanted tip. I look for ones that are longer than 8" so that I can cut them in half to make two 4" lengths. Many are only 7" long. Avoid these unless your cakes are generally 3 1/2" tall or less. Otherwise you get half the value from a straw.
They should be very very sturdy. Not like a milk shake straw. They should be a little difficult to squeeze, and go right back into shape when you release.
My question is (I have recently brought bubble straws but have not yet used them), when doing a double or triple cake the bubble straws are much shorter than the dowel rods so therefore I can see that they will be alright for the first layer but be too short for the second layer or third layer. Can someone let me know?
Thanks in advance!
Are you talking about layers or tiers? I use about 4" of straw (the height of the tier) for each tier, whether it's the first, second or third. You should have 4" of cake with 4" straws in it, then a cardboard circle, then the second tier of 4" of cake with 4" straws in it, etc... Not sure what you're seeing as a problem.
I just measured the ones from BB & B and they are 1/2" in diameter; that means that they are a good choice right?
Thanks.
Christy
I just measured the ones from BB & B and they are 1/2" in diameter; that means that they are a good choice right?
Thanks.
Christy
Can't really say without seeing them myself. What are they called on the package, Bubble Tea Straws or something else? There are lots of straws out there that are big, but flimsy. I order mine online from Amazon or ebay. But next time I'm in BB&B I'll make a point to look at them. Maybe someone else who knows real bubble tea straws has seen these and can answer.
Someone said the straws should be put 1-2 inches apart. If each straw is filled with cake, I'm thinking that most of the inside area of the cake will be taken up with the straws and there won't be much cake left to eat. Am I right? Maybe someone has a picture showing the top of a tier right after they put the straws in to show what it would look like.
Someone said the straws should be put 1-2 inches apart. If each straw is filled with cake, I'm thinking that most of the inside area of the cake will be taken up with the straws and there won't be much cake left to eat. Am I right? Maybe someone has a picture showing the top of a tier right after they put the straws in to show what it would look like.
I would say that's too many, too close. You don't need to use any more straws than you would dowels or any other support. I will generally use 4 straws total under a 6" cake(placed in a square)... 5 straws under anything between 7" and 9" (4 placed in a square plus one in the center)...I generally don't have anything bigger than that except as a bottom tier. But, if I did, I might use 1-3 more.
In addition, when I've removed straws for cutting, the cake doesn't generally come out with the straw. But that may depend on the kind of cake you use.
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