Beginner

How to Attach a Piping Tip to a Bag

Learn how to attach a piping tip to a bag, with or without a coupler, plus how to fill and seal the bag for thick churro dough.

·Independent kitchen-gear reviews

A large churro star tip can drop straight into a snipped piping bag with no extra hardware, while smaller tips and mid-job tip swaps call for a coupler. Knowing which route fits the tip in hand decides how securely it stays put once thick dough starts pushing against it.

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Which bag suits a big star tip?

The bag comes first, because a heavy tip and dense dough put more strain on it than frosting does. An 18-inch bag holds more per fill and needs fewer refills, while 12-inch bags are better kept for fine detail work. Plastic bags are disposable; polyester, silicone and canvas bags can be washed and reused.

Many churro sets pair three large open star tips with 18-inch disposable bags, bag ties and a cleaning brush. For sets built that way, see the piping tip comparison for churros.

Five steps to fit a tip with a coupler

A coupler is a two-part plastic fitting: a base that sits inside the bag and a ring that screws on from outside. It locks the tip in place and lets the tip be swapped without emptying the bag. Large tips need a large coupler, and one popular churro tip set is listed as working with an extra large coupler that is not included.

  1. Drop the larger coupler piece into the bag and snip the bag just enough for the threaded end to poke through.
  2. Push the base down so its threaded end sticks out of the opening.
  3. Slide the piping tip over the exposed base.
  4. Set the outer ring on the tip and screw it down until the tip sits firmly.
  5. To change tips later, unscrew the ring, swap the tip and screw the ring back on.

When can the coupler be skipped?

Tips as large as churro stars usually sit fine without one. Drop the tip to the bottom of the bag, then snip the bag so the teeth of the tip are not covered but the opening is still too narrow for the tip to slip through. Start with a small cut and widen it a little at a time; a hole that is too big lets the tip pop out when the bag is squeezed.

To swap tips with no coupler, fill one bag, cut its end, then nest it inside a second bag that already holds a tip. That bag can then move between tips without mess. Matching the opening to the dough is a separate question, covered in what size piping tip for churros.

Five steps to fill and seal the bag

Overfilling is the usual cause of messy piping, since a bag that is too full is hard to hold and pushes filling out of the top. Fit the tip or coupler before any dough goes in.

  1. Turn the upper half of the bag outward to form a cuff, or stand the bag in a tall glass with the top folded over the rim.
  2. Spoon or scrape the filling in until the bag is between one half and two thirds full.
  3. Unfold the cuff and press the filling toward the tip so air pockets escape.
  4. Twist the top closed, and secure it with a bag tie or rubber band if the filling creeps upward.
  5. Hold the twist in the crease of the hand and squeeze with the whole palm, steadying the tip with the other hand.