Taking the plunge and purchasing an Airbrush Kit is no doubt a good investment for both Professional and home bakers. It can take your cake decorating skills and finished cakes to another level.
With so many different Airbrush Kits to choose from, what should you consider before you invest in your own Airbrush Kit? We’ll try and cut through some of the jargon.
Single Action or Double Action?
Cake Decorated Using Airbrush
What does single or double action mean?
A single action airbrush means you can control the colour intensity and airflow with one action, making it easy to use and ideal for cake decorating
When you press the trigger a stream of both air and colour is released simultaneously.
A double action airbrush on the other hand, performs two separate actions with two separate controls. You have to both pull and press the trigger to operate the air pressure and colour intensity. As you can image it can be quite difficult to control both at the same time.
Gravity Feed or Syphon Feed?
For cake decorating, airbrush kits are usually gravity fed. Which basically means they rely on gravity to feed the colour into the gun, making them simpler to operate and minimising the need for air pressure. In turn, giving you greater control and consistency in your end results.
With Syphon Fed airbrush kits the airbrush paint is placed underneath the gun in a larger container, with the system using suction power to draw the colour into the gun and finally out of the nozzle. Siphon Feed air guns are often used by industrial bakers, airbrushing on a large scale as they can hold greater quantities of colour.
What is the Compressor?
Most airbrush kits contain a gun and a compressor. The compressor generates the air pressure which then ensures the paint is distributed evenly.
For airbrushing cakes, chocolates, cupcakes etc finding the right compressor setting is crucial, which is why it’s always advisable to have a play around with the settings first and test on paper before you start airbrushing your final product. Inadequate power will distribute the colour unevenly and too much pressure could damage your icing. Look for an airbrush kit that comes with an adjuster valve to regulate the pressure, such as Edible Print Supplies Airbrush Compressor Kit impressively, the pressure can be adjusted from 0 – 25 PSI
What PSI should I be Looking for?
PSI is basically how you measure pressure. Officially it’s a unit of pressure expressed in pounds of force per square inch of area. So basically the higher the PSI the greater the pressure. As a general rule, for cake decorating, the optimum pressure is 18-25 PSI.
In summary, for cake decorating, the easiest operation and most consistent results can be achieved by purchasing an airbrush kit such as the one from Edible Print Supplies which encompasses a single action, gravity fed airbrush with adjustable pressure from 0 PSI to 25 PSI.