The day I stopped sifting flour every single time

I learned to bake from my grandmother in the 90s and she sifted flour for everything, even cookies. For years I did the same, sifting every batch no matter what I was making. Then about 5 years ago I took a class at a small bakery in Portland and the instructor just dumped flour straight into the mixer without a second thought. I asked her about it and she said for cookies and quick breads it barely makes a difference, just whisk it a bit. Now I only sift for cakes or when I'm combining dry ingredients with something lumpy like cocoa powder. It saves me at least 10 minutes on a big baking day and I honestly can't tell the difference in most things. Has anyone else dropped an old habit like this and found it works fine?

3 comments

3 Comments

carr.brooke2mo ago

Oh man that reminded me of the time I decided to stop creaming butter and sugar by hand for cookies. I used to do it the old fashioned way with a wooden spoon until my arm would ache. Then one day I just threw it all in the stand mixer on medium speed and walked away for a minute. Came back and it was fluffier than anything I ever got by hand. Took me years to give up that habit and I felt real foolish about it.

abby_black1mo ago

Wait hold on @carr.brooke, did you really see a big difference in texture? Because I've been waffling on letting my mixer do the creaming for years, I always feel like I'm cheating somehow. But everyone keeps saying the same thing, that the stand mixer does it better every time. So what's the trick, do you just let it go until it looks pale and fluffy or is there a secret timing thing?

norag662mo ago

Honestly that comment about just whisking it a bit changed my whole baking game too. I used to sift flour for banana bread every single time until I forgot once and it came out exactly the same. Ngl it felt like I'd discovered some huge secret that saved me so much hassle.