I was having a conversation with another cake decorator recently and found out she measures her dowels all the same length then inserts into her tiers. I always followed toba garretts method which says measure each dowel individually prior to placement. So I suppose each dowel could be slightly different than the next. My tiers have never looked unlevel. What do you guys all do? Have I just been lucky to have pretty level tiers?
i measure all at once but... i am fairly new at taers as well.
depends on wooden rods, or plastic rods. on wooden, i measure each individually cause they are easy to cut. with plastic, i cut just a little bit below the icing, cause i didn't want the plastic rods to stick up from the cake. sometimes the cake and icing aren't completely even. so that insures that your plates don't wobble.
i have only done wedding cakes a couple of times. but i found it works quite well.
I put the first dowel in the cake, mark it and then cut all the dowels to that length. Otherwise, I would think the tiers could tip!
I'm fairly new at this though, so I'll be interested to see what the more experienced bakers say.
..this is the way I do it too! 
I put the first dowel in the cake, mark it and then cut all the dowels to that length. Otherwise, I would think the tiers could tip!
I'm fairly new at this though, so I'll be interested to see what the more experienced bakers say.
Me too. In case you have a high or low point on the cake surface or in the icing, this helps assure that the next tier will be sitting level! I try to eyeball what may look like a high-point in the bottom cake and insert the first dowel there. I want the common denominator to be the highest point, not the lowest.
It's funny you should ask this question! Last weekend when I was making my wedding cake, and my DH was hanging out in the kitchen with me, (he was feeling left out) Ha! He was watching me get ready to cut my dowels and he suggested measuring each one, I always in the past had just put one in and cut them all the same. However, This time I did it the way he suggested and it was perfect. I really think that is the way to go, because there is always going to be differences and this just ensures a perfect fit. Just my opinion.
This is a good question..I finished Wilton 3 last night and had my instructor show me how do dowel. She put one in the center marked it then I cut all the pieces the same size. One of the pieces was a little taller so I had to trim it down.
Doing one at a time sounds like a good idea...I'll try that one next.
Question: What do you use to cut the wooden dowels?
I always cut them one at a time, also. Not the most efficient method in terms of time, but it always ensures that nothing will be too short or too tall at those dips and rises in the cakes and plates.
I use a garden shear to cut my wooden dowels. And yes, that's the only thing for which I use those shears.
I measure the highest point of my cake and mark my dowel. Then I cut the rest of my dowels to that same size so its all even when I put my next tier on.
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