To find the answer to this question, you need to understand what happens after grinding the grain. The result is a compound that certainly contains flour, but also a certain amount of “production waste” called chaff. Essentially, chaff consists of the dry protective shells of the grain, which are crushed along with them. The production process of flour purification occurs precisely with the aim of eliminating these substances, partially or completely.
Today this operation is performed on an industrial scale using a technique called milling, but in the past it was performed using a sieve. Yeah, that's where the legs grow from! By shaking the sieve, the purified flour passed through the fine mesh, while waste (bran) and possible inedible debris were kept out of the final product.
So, was this the same sifting that is described in recipes today? Most likely no. Today we don’t need such sifting, since we can buy flour of different “levels of purification” (from wallpaper to premium grade). Then these are relics of the past? Yes, but only partially.
Why sift flour?
Sifting flour is important for several reasons. First, it breaks up any lumps that may have formed. Second, sifting helps combine the flour with any dry ingredients, such as baking powder, salt or cocoa powder, before you knead the dough. Sifting also introduces air into the flour, making it fluffier.
You can also find an article on the blog that I wrote earlier: “5 reasons why you should sift your flour.”
As a rule, only the action of aeration leads to a fluffier dessert.
Sifting increases the amount of air in the flour, making baked goods light and airy. This is important because store-bought flour is usually tightly packaged and may have broken down further during shipping and storage.
Where to sow?
We’re talking about bowls and saucepans here, but you can sift the flour directly onto the work surface. Of course, it all depends on the purposes for which the product will be used. If we are talking about dough, then you will have to sift the flour separately. When using the product to roll out this very dough, housewives can sift it directly onto a board or table.
This is easy to do. Before sifting begins, the table or board is washed and dried. And then flour is sifted onto them through a sieve.
Why sift flour:
- Sifting saturates with oxygen.
First, it provides a light, airy, and tender texture to the finished baked goods. This also reduces the number of lumps.
- Maintaining proportions.
Simply sifting your flour can provide a more even and consistent measurement, no matter the climate or texture of your flour. This gives a stable end result.
- Remove debris or unnecessary material.
In the past, store-bought flour might have contained insects or bits of debris. While better conditions in factories make this less of a problem today, there is still the possibility that a bug or piece of debris could get into a bag of flour. To eliminate the possibility of baking something that is not going to be part of the cake, sift the flour.
- Mix the ingredients together.
You can sift the flour with the other dry ingredients like baking soda, salt or cocoa powder to get them really well mixed.
How to sift flour using a sieve
If you have a sieve, that's great! A sieve is a convenient device for sifting flour. In the form of a fine mesh stretched over a metal hoop or in the shape of a mug with a handle. If you are new to the pastry world, then using a sieve is very simple:
STEP 1 . Place a sheet of parchment paper under the bowl to keep everything clean.
STEP 2 : Fill a sieve 3/4 full with flour. If this is not all the flour you will use, that’s okay, you can sift it in small portions.
STEP 3 : Either shake the sieve or slowly turn the handle to sift the flour into the bowl underneath. If you need to sift twice (the recipe should say so), then repeat this step again.
Now the flour is ready for baking!
A worthy replacement for a sieve
A sieve or sieve is an ancient kitchen utensil that helps sift flour. Many housewives still use it, although this method is troublesome and sloppy. Is there an alternative?
Special mugs
They are much more convenient because the whole process is mechanized.
The device is a cylindrical stainless steel container with a fine-mesh mesh instead of a bottom. The mug is equipped with a handle with a spring mechanism, when pressed, the blades installed inside begin to rotate, pushing the flour through the sieve. Sometimes, instead of one sieves, two are used, with the upper one rotating relative to the lower one. The advantages of the device are obvious:
- Higher efficiency compared to conventional hand sieve.
- Flour is poured directly into a substitute container, for example, a bread maker mold, without scattering to the sides.
- When sifting, minimal effort is applied.
- It’s convenient to measure the amount of product – there are special marks right on the mug.
- You can purchase devices of different volumes, depending on what type of dough we prepare most often (for yeast dough you will need a container of 650 g, for sponge dough 250 g is enough).
- Dishwasher safe.
Important!
You need to clean the mug immediately after use, otherwise the flour around the sieve will be compressed and you will have to make a lot of effort to remove it.
Electric flour sieve
Even if mechanical sifting is not to your liking or you need a large amount of flour at one time, we recommend purchasing an electric equivalent of a mug.
The device may have a different design, but it must consist of two interconnected halves, between which a sieve is stretched. When turned on, the device begins to vibrate and the flour poured on top is sifted, falling to the lower part. From there it is discharged through the tray into a substitute container.
Fast, neat and no effort on our part. The only disadvantage of this kitchen helper is its high cost.
An electric sieve is indispensable for home mini-bakeries.
Industrial machines – flour sifters
These powerful units are used in confectionery shops and large bakeries. Of course, they are not suitable for home, but it is still interesting to get to know him.
Industrial machines are functionally no different from a conventional sieve. They simply work with large volumes of flour and require several degrees of purification, including removal of metallic impurities. Let's look at the principle of their operation in a little more detail, using the example of the MPM 800 flour sifting machine.
This model is used in small enterprises or in cafes and restaurants that produce their own baked goods. The machine is equipped with fixed sieves of different diameters, through which the flour is sifted mechanically. Loading occurs from above - through the hopper, and from there the product moves along the screw shaft into the receiving drum. At the outlet there is a magnetic catcher for metal debris.
The MMM 800 model is distinguished by its compact size and high performance. However, due to the fact that the sieves are fixed motionless, the flour is not sufficiently cleaned. Units where the mesh with cells either swings from side to side or vibrates work much more efficiently. But such cars are more difficult to drive.
Flour sifters are also used to purify sugar, milk powder, cocoa, fine salt, breadcrumbs or starch.
How to sift flour if there is no sieve
No sieve? No problem. There are several ways to prepare flour for baking without this equipment. If you don’t have a sieve at hand to sift flour, then you can solve this problem using available equipment. Three quick ways to sift flour without a sieve:
- Kitchen whisk or fork
The great thing about using a whisk is that it instantly breaks up all the lumps and since the ingredients are dry, they don't stick to the teeth. Best of all, once you use the whisk, your cleanup will only be a quick rinse through the sink.
Use a whisk or fork. Using a whisk or fork, stir the flour in a circular motion. While this won't make the flour as light and fluffy as using a special sifter, it will help break up any lumps and aerate the flour and help incorporate all the dry ingredients together at once.
However, if you don't have a strainer or sifter, fear not. You can sift the flour with a whisk.
- Blender
A kitchen blender will produce similar results as a whisk, only faster. Place the flour in a kitchen blender fitted with a blade attachment and pulse several times for 5 seconds. Just make sure the lid is tightly closed, otherwise there will be flour everywhere.
- Small colander and gauze
You can also try a colander or even use a fine grater. It works exactly the same as a sieve, but technically it's made for a different purpose! But it will also help to sift the flour.
Take a small colander and put clean gauze in it. Using a spoon, add flour and sift slowly. As shown in the example:
All the pros and cons
This stage of baking causes the most disagreement in culinary debates. So should you pass the flour through a sieve before adding it to the dough? Let's try to get to the truth together.
Why do you need to sift
- Despite modern processing technologies, production “blunders” have not yet been canceled. And even in top-grade products, it is quite possible to find foreign debris, especially when, in order to save money, we buy it by weight. It’s good if our pie gets some natural thread from a packing bag, cereal from a nearby box, or a piece of paper. But an unnoticed fragment of a plastic bag can hopelessly ruin baked goods.
- Sometimes small pebbles and broken glass are found in flour - this is already a danger for us and our household helpers: a food processor, which is often used for kneading dough, or a bread machine. By purchasing packaged products, we protect ourselves from random garbage, but we risk getting stale goods that have already become a “home” for food moths or barn weevils. These pests will also be revealed during sifting, which will save our nerves and health.
- During long-term storage, flour cakes, which deteriorates its baking qualities, and at a humidity of 14 - 15% and higher, lumps form. By sifting such a product, we restore its original properties. Dry it slightly, especially if you repeat the manipulations several times, making it more loose and homogeneous. As a result, the flour mixes better with the other ingredients, the dough is homogeneous and “reaches standard” faster.
- Packed flour has less volume than loose flour. If you do not sift it, you can make a mistake in the proportions when the recipe requires measuring the ingredient not in grams, but in cups (or glasses). For a multicooker or bread maker, deviations from the specified volume are especially noticeable. We may get absolutely different results than we expect.
- And returning to the need to “breathe.” During the sifting process, flour is enriched with oxygen, which makes yeast, sponge or puff pastries more fluffy. In shortbread dough, the result will not be so noticeable, but this does not mean that it is not there.
Advice
In order not to suffer losses from contaminated flour later, you should not buy it during promotions: manufacturers often reduce the price of low-quality goods. Products sold by weight at the market should only be taken from trusted sellers. In addition, it is undesirable to make large reserves for future use - the likelihood of pest damage increases over time.
Arguments of opponents
- According to some, baking powder raises dough much better than sifted flour. The same can be said about high-quality yeast, the production technology of which is significantly different from the previous one.
- When grain was ground with millstones, and not with roller mills, there was a need for additional purification of flour from natural impurities by sifting. Today, manufacturers do everything for us and a top-quality product is immediately ready for consumption.
- I don’t want to cover the table or dishes with flour that scatters during processing, I’m too lazy to clean a clogged sieve every time, and it’s unpleasant to do monotonous physical work.
Referring to the opinion of experts, we note the first two arguments as untenable. Sifting is guaranteed to improve the taste and structure of baked goods, which is easy for housewives to verify from their own experience. And the third point will lose force if we choose the right kitchen helpers.
Gadgets for sifting flour
As you know, it is recommended to sift flour before baking so that it is saturated with oxygen and becomes light and airy. Use my recommendations for choosing a convenient flour sifter:
- metal strainer mug
- manual flour shaker
- automatic flour sifter
- press cup sieve with lid
Flour storage
Store flour in a plastic container. When you store flour in the bag it was purchased in, it can easily shrink and lose air. Therefore, it is recommended to transfer the flour to a large, airtight storage container.
Once the flour is in the storage container, stir it with a fork or wooden spoon to get some air into it. Alternatively, you can simply shake the container well with the lid closed.
Every housewife knows that before cooking it is necessary to sift the flour, but not everyone knows how to do it correctly and what to do if there is no sieve at hand. Use my methods to make your baking even better.
Efficiency of methods
In production, flour already goes through a preliminary stage of purification, so in most cases its quality is high: it does not have lumps or mechanical impurities in the packaging.
However, as soon as the packaging is broken and the product itself remains in storage, parasitic microorganisms, insects and fungi begin to form in the flour. The risk of their development is high, especially if the packaging is not closed and there is high humidity at home. Most often, bugs infest flour, so the only effective cleaning method is sifting through cheesecloth or a fine strainer; methods with a mixer and blender are not suitable. In order for the product to retain its quality after use, it must be properly stored. After purchasing, be sure to pour the flour into a separate dry container made of glass or plastic, then screw it on with a tight lid and put it in a cool, dry place, preferably out of light. Without deterioration in quality, flour can be stored for up to 6 months.
Sifting flour is as easy as shelling pears, even with the help of improvised means that you can definitely find among your kitchen utensils. Try at least one of the listed methods, and you will notice that the dough becomes more flexible and the cooking takes on an appetizing appearance.
