Piping issues with buttercream

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Hi! I am new to piping icing and have made homemade buttercream with the right consistency. When I first start piping it turns out great! However, after I put new icing in the piping bag and re pipe, it looks not as firm and soft looking. When I see this, I put the piping bag and frosting in the fridge for a bit but it still comes out looking soft again. What do I do to fix this? Is it because I’m putting frosting in the same piping bag as the last and it’s making it get soft somehow? Do I need to use a new bag? Do I need to re whip the frosting? Take it out of the piping bag and let it sit in the fridge for an hour? It’s just very weird because when I went to repipe and refilled the piping bag, it had only been minutes since I filled the piping bag the first time.
 
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Hi! I am new to piping icing and have made homemade buttercream with the right consistency. When I first start piping it turns out great! However, after I put new icing in the piping bag and re pipe, it looks not as firm and soft looking. When I see this, I put the piping bag and frosting in the fridge for a bit but it still comes out looking soft again. What do I do to fix this? Is it because I’m putting frosting in the same piping bag as the last and it’s making it get soft somehow? Do I need to use a new bag? Do I need to re whip the frosting? Take it out of the piping bag and let it sit in the fridge for an hour? It’s just very weird because when I went to repipe and refilled the piping bag, it had only been minutes since I filled the piping bag the first time.

What type of icing are you using?

Swiss meringue buttercream?

Italian meringue buttercream?

American powdered sugar with butter?

What is the temperature of your kitchen?

I asked these questions because the type of icing and the temperature of your kitchen is important.

Butter based icings are very sensitive to heat. You need to keep your kitchen at a lower temperature, preferably, 70°F or lower.

How you handle your pastry bag is also important. Keep your hand at top of bag. Don’t wrap your hand around the body of the bag. Body temperature is 97°F; butter melts at 92°F.

The heat from your hand will heat the icing. To keep from transferring body heat to the icing, keep your hand at the top of the bag like in the photo below.


Photo from the kitchn
2EE49A39-E7D4-4609-8652-2E8A441C5E0D.jpeg
 
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It sounds like your buttercream might be softening too quickly. Try making it a bit firmer before you start, and chill the piping bag with the buttercream in the fridge for a few minutes if it starts to soften. Re-whipping the buttercream before refilling the bag can also help restore its consistency. If you’re handling the bag a lot, it might warm up the buttercream too, so try to handle it as little as possible. Using a fresh piping bag shouldn’t be necessary unless the old one is dirty.
 

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