Squeeze With Ease! Wilton Squeeze Bottles
Written: Nov 02 '03 (Updated Nov 03 '03)
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Pros: Inexpensive, tons of uses, makes decorating and candy making a painless endeavor.
Cons: Some stores only carry the medium sized bottles.
The Bottom Line: Make quick work of decorating, chocolate covered treats and candy making with Wilton’s Squeeze Bottles.
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| Freak369's Full Review: Wilton Squeeze Bottle |
With Halloween a fleeting memory, I’ve turned my sights on to bigger and better things – namely getting ready for Christmas. This means packing up all the Halloween bakeware, decorations and related paraphernalia and breaking out the green and red craft boxes. This also means it’s time to place an order at the Wilton Online Store for the staples including the ultra nifty squeeze bottles. Our local stores don’t get these in that often and when they do it’s usually a few of them and they are the medium sized ones. Since there are three sizes to choose from, I like to keep an assortment of new, unused ones on hand so when I get the urge to try out a new recipe or create some new freak-like treat I don’t have to worry about hunting down a clean bottle.
Since these are plastic you need to check these from time to time to make sure the seams aren’t cracked. If you are using these for making candy repeated microwaving of the bottles might result in them getting a little stiff and cracking at the most inconvenient times. Remember the golden rule “water and chocolate do not mix” so make sure you wash these a few hours before you start your candy making to avoid ruining a batch. Since these are relatively inexpensive you can stock up on them at local stores or add them to an online purchase if a site is offering free shipping with a minimum purchase. Even if you aren’t into candy making, these have a ton of uses inside and outside the kitchen.
Wilton Squeeze Bottles
These bottles are truly a godsend. Be it for candy making, decorating iced cookies or whipping out chocolate covered peanuts – these make a world of difference and are real time savers. Most people use these for easy applications of chocolate into molds; Wilton suggests microwaving the bottles to keep the chocolate liquefied however this will eventually destroy the containers. My suggestion is to take a large bowl of hot water and rest it on a large oven mitt, when you are not using the bottles, place them into the hot water so they will be ready when you need them. Make sure you wipe off the bottle completely so you don’t get any water into the molds. Want to really impress your guests? Take ordinary cocktail peanuts, arrange them into small “mountains” and drizzle the chocolate over it, since you have an easy to handle bottle, you can control how much chocolate you are apply and where it is going. Want to really knock them out? Try using different colored chocolates! You can do this for walnuts, pecans, almonds or even peanut butter balls.
You can purchase these plastic bottles in three convenient sizes – the smallest one is the one that is best for younger kids to work with the largest being the most effective for tacking multiple projects at once. The mini [1904-1166] is great when you are working with candy molds that have a lot of detail, cutting the tip on and angle allows you to get into all the corners and crevices with a minimum amount of bubbles to contend with. The large [1904-1167] is a little hard to find at retail stores but it available at the online store for about $2.00. This is the perfect size for doing outlines on sugar cookies, just funnel in the royal icing, trace out the edges and allow to dry completely, this makes filling in the centers a piece of cake and makes for a great job for the kids.
The one that I use the most is the regular / medium size [1904-1189]. I use this for making candy but also for decorating cookies, making hearts, writing names and adding finishing touches to royal icing projects. Outside of decorating, these are great for any type of syrup [especially if you are an ice cream addict], an easy to use replacement bottle for ketchup or mustard [helpful for those who have hand troubles] and jelly. If there is one thing I hate is having to fight to scrape out the last few tablespoons of jelly, by spooning it into one of these, all I need to do is store it upside down and it’s ready to go whenever the boys want jelly on their toast or crackers.
These have a pop off top and come with the tip intact so you can cut it or trim it to whatever size you need. If you goof up and cut too much off, you can purchase replacement tops but you have to make sure you are picking up the correct ones, it helps to take the empty bottle with you to make sure the threading is correct and it is the same size. A nifty trick I picked up from one of my neighbors is to have a small bowl on the counter just for the red caps, this way you won’t have to worry about them going down the drain and they are always within reach when needed. Same goes for the top when they are being washed, you’d be surprised the number of times I misplaced these.
Cleaning
I’ll be completely honest here, keeping these clean all depends on what you use them for. The items that do stain include ketchup, any type of tomato based sauce, jelly and overdosed candy or icing. If you are working with a white frosting or icing and are adding your own coloring to it, the extra color [to create a deep red or black] might stain the inside of the container if left in it for more than a few hours. Your best bet to keep these clean and in good shape is to wash them as soon as possible in warm soapy water with a good brush so you can get inside it. I don’t recommend tossing these in the dishwasher since the plastic is sure to crack after a few loads. I have several of these in the fridge for condiments like ketchup, mustard and sweet and sour sauce. I store them upside down inside an old popsicle mold so I don’t have to stand there and shake the hell out of them. This might sound like a fiasco waiting to happen but so far the only messes have been when the lids weren’t screwed on tightly after refilling them. A quick wipe around the neck ensures that there won’t be any funky stains outside.
Price
If you look at the prices on these and think they are a little high – all I have to say is look at other brands and versions. For the money I consider them well worth it and – in all honesty – are better than the industrial ones that are sold at Smart & Final [a warehouse type store for chefs and restaurants]. A six pack of the medium sized bottles costs about $8.00, while you are paying almost the same price for the Wilton brand [about $1.50 - $1.75] per bottle, you aren’t committed to a six pack purchase and the plastic on the Wilton brand is a little thicker. The small bottles come in a double pack and retail for about $2.00. If you have a cake decorating store or Michael’s in your area you can check and see if they sell these individually. Some stores opt to break open the packs so customers can purchase them one at a time. The large bottles are also about $2.00 [depending on where you shop]. All in all, the Wilton bottles are a great investment and if you find them a little difficult to use for decorating or candy making, there are a ton of other uses for them.
Alternative Uses
I’ve mentioned a few other uses for these bottles – but as usual – I have more. I purchase tacky glue in large bottles that are impossible to use with any type of accuracy. Until I started using these bottles I was stuck refilling the small four ounce bottles and was limited by the tip size I created when I opened the bottle. Now that I have the smaller ones on hand, I can fill them up and use them for craft projects and make my own glitter glue. Another great use for these bottles is laundry soap, instead of purchasing prestain removers just pour some soap into one of these and do a spot treatment. This is also great for those who use products like Oxy-Clean or powdered cleaners, using this type of bottle allows you to get into corners or clean specific areas without wasting it on areas that don’t need cleaning. Perfect for carpet cleaners, cleaning up small pet stains and even in the bathroom for kid’s bubble bath.
The Bottom Line
Regardless of what you use these for, they will stand up to a lot of use and abuse. Given that they come in three sizes, there is bound to be one just perfect for your needs. The only real drawback here is the snap on lid, these can easily get lost in a busy kitchen or workshop so be sure to look for replacement caps at places like Home Depot or any home improvement store. If you are looking for a way to make tons of treats without investing a lot of time into it, these bottles are a great investment. If you are a bargain nut, check out the weekly coupons Michaels offers for 40% or 50% off a regularly priced item and pick up the multi packs of these if they offer them.
As always, thanks for the read!
^V^ Freak ^V^
© 2003 Freak369
Other Wilton time savers …
Wilton Spatch-It
Wilton Meringue Powder
Wilton Color Mist
Wilton Cake Leveler
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): See Review
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