Monday, November 13, 2006

Cooking essentials- the flour sifter


This is a flour sifter. Do you have one? Do you use it? I use mine all the time. Sometimes when I am getting flour out to use, it looks a little lumpy. Putting the flour through the sifter aerates the flour and gets any lumps out, making it more fluffy.





According to WhatsCookingInAmerica.net, a sifter is ...



a sieve that is especially adapted for use with flour. It is commonly built
in the form of a metal cup with a screen bottom and contains a mechanism (wires
that either revolve or rub against the screen being operated by a crank or a
lever) to force the flour through the mesh.


Oh, and you should know that there is no need to wash your sifter each time you use it. Just tap it gently over the sink or trash can and shake out any extra flour. I used to wash my first sifter after every use. What happened to it? It rusted. A sweet friend informed me that it was, after all, only flour that I used each time I sifted and there was no reason to wash it all the time.

Happy sifting!!

5 comments:

Mary Ann said...

I found out the hard way too about washing my sifter! I have a sifter like the one pictured but I use a regular net strainer/sieve more. I think it's quicker and my hand doesn't get so tired!!! Sifting is a great concept. I used to hurry through and skip that step when making cake; then I felt like I should add nuts to disguise the lumps.LOL!!!

Tammy said...

I've never had a sifter...and if I did have one I'd be washing it. LOL (Well, not after this post though!)

Melissa said...

I love the "old-school" sifter like you have. It reminds me of my grandmother. I think ever woman needs one like her grandmother or mother had :D It will help her remember all the careful "sifting" that went into those delicious biscuits.

Marie said...

Oh I am so lazy about sifting. Whenever a recipe says "sift" I just run a fork through it for a while!

Kelli said...

I am usually too lazy to sift but you have inspired me to get it out. Actually, I may need to buy a new one, mine is all rusty. Thank you for the don't wash tip!
Kelli

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