I've been having some WAM fun lately, but cool whip is something I cannot get right.

It's either freezing cold or melted liquid. Any advice on what's the best way to "prepare" cool whip? I'd figure the best is probably to stick it in a microwave, but I have no idea what settings would work. If there's any gurus out there, appreciate your help! Thanks

Try different brands/store brands if you can, because they can differ from the name brand product. Where I live, the house brand "Hill Country Farms" whipped topping at the grocery store chain HEB is far and away the best Cool Whip type product I've ever used - it is very thick, does not melt or become runny very easily, and maintains its texture/consistency for a very long time compared to regular Cool Whip. It sticks so well that it actually is a bit difficult to wash off the body if its on there too long but everything else about it is perfect.

Since you're in Seattle, you don't have HEB but you must have a wide variety of supermarkets to try different brands! I hope you find something!

I'm not sure what the secret sauce is

But marshmallow fluff helps in that it dosnt need to be cold or warm you can use it and eat and wash it out in a variety of ways

I know this Dosnt answer the question but after I couldn't find what works with cool whip I stepped back a bit

we will thaw the cool whip in the fridge, and let it sit out as the pie crusts cook (usually like 10-30 mins)

Sometimes we add frosting to the whip, tends not melt as quickly.

I don't usually use cool whip as I'm more fond of other creams but occasionally I will top my pies with it. I always get the Extra Creamy cool whip. Put in your fridge the day before you use it to thaw. The impact looks great. Doesn't stick very well after the fact though which is why I try not to use it to often. But it is alot easier and cheaper to use than other creams

We don't have cool whip in the UK but maybe if you allow it to melt then whip again and stabilise it with a little gelatin? Definitely only a little, probably a quarter of whatever recommended amount would be for whatever amount there is in the tub.

I watched a video about stabilising whipped cream and the best thing was a small amount of instant dessert mix, it's called 'angel delight' over here - not sure if the usa has an equivalent, but if you do then maybe try that too.

I wish I could try the gelatin experiment, love a bit of wam science!

I did try the cream and angel delight one but accidentally added too much, but I'll try again another time.

I usually have good luck with generic store brand versions of Cool Whip rather than the real deal. Let it thaw in the fridge for a day or two, then let it sit on the counter for about 20-30 minutes before making the pies. If you use crusts, cook the pie crusts beforehand and let them cool completely (the remnant heat in the crusts probably speeds up the melting process.

If you are still worried about it melting, you could always cut it with sour cream. It will take some experimentation to find the "clingy" cream effect that you are looking for, but it does make for a very heavy, thick pie that can pile up and maintain it's shape to ridiculous proportions. And it will slow down melting drastically.

That is a lovely looking blouse.

I've never had an issue with it melting, but for the temp, I have a fun trick. While frozen, I take the pucks of cool whip out and put them in a large 3 gallon plastic bag. You should be able to fit five or so in there. You can mix it up, add food coloring, it'll thaw really quickly. And as an added bonus, you can clip the corner and pipe it out into shells.

If you're have a melting problem, you could try mixing it with frosting.

I use cool whip for my pies and had the same issue at first. With a little trial and error here's what I eventually settled on as a gameplan:

Take the tub out of the fridge/freezer (better if you can let it sit in the fridge for at least a few hours but sometimes I just don't have the fridge space), take the lid/film off and microwave it for around 20 seconds, then take it out and stir it up. Put it back in for 15-20 second cycles once or twice more (stirring after each time) until you hit a good soft consistency throughout and by that point it should be close to room temp, where it'll still feel a little cold on the skin but definitely not "freezing." If you have the time and willpower to let the finished pies sit for a bit then that'll allow the temperature to normalize a bit further as well.

Here's our method - use as you see fit.

1. Get the large buckets of cool whip, and while frozen, use a spatula to loosen the whip from the sides of the container.
2. Plop the cool whip brick into a giant 2.5 gallon ziploc bag. Load up 5 to 6 of the 1lb cool whip tubs to a bag.
3. Seal ziploc. Put in fridge. Wait a day.
4. Mash up the bag with your hands a bit
5. Cut the edge of the ziploc bag, and squeeze it out like a cake decorating frosting onto your pies.

You'll find you get the big stable fluffy pies, like I have here, which also smash great. Enjoy my friends!

Had the best romp ever with cookies n cream cool whip. It was almost room temp..and still stiff.

I just keep it in the refrigerator til I'm ready to use it, then empty the tubs into a large mixing bowl and use a handheld electric mixer to blend it all up. It makes it nice and creamy. Sticks great, in my experience.

I believe my wife may have mixed a small amount of pudding into some pies that she made for us once. Perhaps you could try that also.

I use cool whip (or the Walmart alternative) for pretty much all my pies. I don't mind the cold, but my wife does. Most will stay stable if you let them thaw out in the fridge and then leave them out long enough to get to room temp before using. I have noticed they can lose some of their fluffiness when I stir in the food coloring though. Pics below: