1,542 easy and fully explained recipes, with +66K photos and 78 videos

This site uses only a few technical cookies necessary for its operation. By continuing to browse, you accept their use.
To find out more...

Don't throw away disposable piping bags

Nowadays, it's fairly easy to find what professionals use as piping bags, i.e. disposable or "single-use" plastic ones.

They're practical, functional and inexpensive, but disposable? That's debatable...

9,072 5/5 (21 reviews)

Keywords for this post:Equipment Cleaning Savings Pockets Sustainable development Baking

Last modified on: May 28^th 2024

For this post: Comment Follow Ask me a question Send to a friend

Don't throw away disposable piping bags

Their use

These pouches are bought in boxes of 100, and for each use, you're supposed to fill them up, poach the contents, then throw them away, and the next time, take a new one, and so on. You'll tell me that this is a disposable principle, of course, but the real shame is that these pouches are of excellent quality and can, in practice, be reused many times.

poches neuves et usagées

In this photo, you can see a new pouch coming out of the box (red arrow) at the bottom and a second-hand pouch (green arrow) at the top.
Not much difference, you'll agree.
Of course, the used one is a bit crumpled, but it still works very well - so well, in fact, that I think it's got at least 10 years' use left in it, without exaggerating.

So don't hesitate: you can reuse a disposable piping bag many times over, simply by washing and drying it, which is both more ecological and more economical.

Let's wash them

Washing a piping bag is something that professionals don't do, or don't do much of, because their time is limited, and throwing it away is much quicker than washing it.
On the other hand, for amateurs in the kitchen, a little extra washing-up isn't a big deal: all we have to do is wash it after use, and we'll be able to reuse our piping bag the next time.
To wash it, we can proceed in the traditional way: turn the bag inside out, like a glove or a sock, then wash it in the dishwasher.

But there's a quicker way:
lavage poche étape 1

Pour a drop of washing-up liquid into the bag after use, fill it halfway with hot water and pinch the pointed side so that the water stays inside.

lavage poche étape 2

Also close the other side of the bag to lock the hot soapy water inside.

lavage poche étape 3

Shake the closed bag from right to left for a few seconds.

lavage poche étape 4

Release the pointed side to let the water out completely.

lavage poche étape 5

Rinse the pouch, then let it dry, or wipe it with a cloth if you're in a hurry.

Your (disposable) pouch is ready for use again.

In short: Don't throw your disposable pouches away, just wash them, and you'll be able to use them again and again.

Lasts posts

Butter vs. grease

We often read in a recipe where a pastry is put into a mould that, just before pouring, the mould should be buttered or greased. But what's the difference between these 2 terms?
December 1^st 20251,2215

Getting out of the fridge early

Very often when you're cooking, you need to take food or preparations out of the fridge, to use them in the recipe in progress. There's nothing tricky about this: you just take them out of the fridge and use them, usually immediately, in the recipe. But is this really a good method?
November 24^th 20251,2125

Who's making the croissants?

When you look at a bakery from the outside, you naturally think that in the bakery, the bakers make the bread, and in the laboratory, the pastry chefs make the cakes. It's very often like that, with each of these professions having quite different ways of working, but sometimes there's also one...
November 23^th 20251,106

Oven height

When we put a dish or cake in the oven, we naturally tend to put it on the middle shelf, and that's what we usually do. But in some cases, this position and height can be a little tricky, so let's find out why.
October 8^th 20253,0185

The importance of sieving

In recipes that use a fine powder (flour, powdered sugar, etc.), you'll often see the advice to sift before using it. To sift is to pass the powder in question through a sieve (a very fine strainer) before incorporating it into your recipe. It's often advice, but is it really useful?
September 3^rd 20257,7163

See all posts Random post RSS feeds

Other pages you may also like

What is the difference between bakery and patisserie?

This is a question that you may well have asked yourself and which I will attempt to answer. In France the two trades of "boulangerie" (bakery) and "pâtisserie" (patisserie and confectionery) have always been quite distinct, but where exactly do the boundaries lie? .
February 7^th 2017134 K 14.1

Candied fruits: don't get ripped off

Do you like candied fruit? You might like to nibble a handful or add it to a recipe, like a classic fruit cake or delicious Italian specialities like panettone or sicilian epiphany pie.
June 21^th 201767 K 24.2

The golden-brown finish on puff pastry

Let's take a look at the tricky matter of producing puff pastry with an attractive, golden-brown finish. French pastry chefs call this "dorure" (literally, "gilding"). Behind this quirky term there lurks a real problem (and the solution): when using puff pastry (pâte feuilletée) for a pie, or...
February 8^th 201847 K 24.6

The super powers of cornstarch

I start this new year by evoking an old product, that you most probably have in your cupboards, a white powder, often in a small cardboard package with a slightly outdated look, only the "gluten free" is relatively recent, it is simply cornstarch, hence its name of maïzena. It's used for a lot...
January 14^th 202215 K

A few tips for effective kneading at home

When you have to knead dough for bread or some other recipe, you may well use a food processor or the type of machine known as a stand mixer. The best-known brands are Kenwood and KitchenAid. They are useful tools, but here are a few tips to help you get the best out of them.
June 23^th 2021284 K 23.8