Mastering Tip Tuning: The Key to Realistic Buttercream Flowers
by Dara Waitkus
February 17, 2024
2-minute read
Hey there! Today we’re diving into the world of tip tuning—yes, where every piping tip you own will be “harmed” in the best way possible. Don’t worry, though; it’s easier than it sounds and totally worth it when you see how beautifully realistic your buttercream flowers turn out. Ready to make your tips—and your flowers—better than ever? Let’s get started!
What is Tip Tuning?
First, what the heck is tip tuning? Tip tuning is all about modifying your piping tips to get thinner openings, perfect for creating delicate, realistic flower petals. That’s it!
Tools You’ll Need
Tip tuning is super easy, and you don’t need many tools to do it. You likely already have what you need in your garage or junk drawer! Here’s what you’ll need to tune your tips:
- Needle nose pliers
- Flathead screwdriver (optional)
- A good dose of patience
How do I know what tips need tuning?
You might be wondering which tips actually need tuning. The truth is, not all of them do! Only certain types of tips require tuning. Let’s read on and I’ll show you exactly how to tune the two most common tunable tip types: straight petal tips and curved petal tips.
Tuning Straight Petal Tips
For tips like the Wilton 101, 102, 103 and 104, pinch the bottom wide end slightly narrower with the needle nose pliers. Don’t touch the already-narrow top portion—if you do it will be too thin, which could cause your petals to tear.
Tuning Curved Petal Tips
For tips like the Wilton 59s, Ateco 161, Korea 61, PP 123, Wilton 123, or any other tip with a teardrop shape, pinch the wide bottom end of the tip just a tiny bit. Leave the narrow top portion alone; it’s already narrow enough.
Certain piping tips will be harder to tune, due to the type of metal the tip is made of. Ateco piping tips are notoriously more difficult to tune than Wilton piping tips.
Untuning Tips
Sometimes you can get your hands on a tip that is just too narrow to pipe a petal that will hold its shape and will curl in or out instead of standing up. Is that tip destined for the garbage? Definitely not! All it needs is a little untuning to open it back up. To untune a tip, use a flathead screwdriver to gently widen the tip opening for thicker petal piping.
Too Much? Buy Pre-Tuned Tips!
Not ready to wrestle your tips into shape? No worries—you can buy pre-tuned tips here.
Wrapping It Up
And that’s a wrap! Hopefully, you’re feeling confident about tuning (or untuning) your tips. Or, if tuning’s not your thing, just grab a pre-tuned set from the shop and save yourself the headache.
If you need a little more than this article, you can catch The Tunables tutorial in The Piped Peony Academy courses section.
Thanks for hanging out with me and my trusty needle nose pliers. Happy piping, and may your flowers be as beautiful as your efforts!
Happy tuning buttercream flower fam!
