Flour vs. Flour

[CWS4322]

I am sorry to see that we have gotten away from sifting the dry ingredients. Just whisking is does not do it for me. I feel that sifting all the dry ingredients together makes for a lighter end product. Yes, I have one of those sifters that you crank with the handle on the side. And it gets a lot of use in my kitchen.

What, Addie? I still sift flour like my grandma taught me...you mean I don't have to do that? I have my grandma's sifter and use it all the time!

 

[bakechef]

Bleaching also creates a softer flour, that's why cake flour is almost always bleached. King Arthur makes an unbleached version but explains on the package that it will not produce as soft a cake as bleached cake flour.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

I've made one attempt (so far) at from-scratch baking powder biscuits. I didn't use this recipe (yet), but their flour chart is simple, explanatory, and informational. I hunt it down every time I have a question about flour. Seriously, I have to hunt - I can never remember which folder I hide it in.

How to Make the Best Buttermilk Biscuits from Scratch - Pinch My Salt

I rarely bake anything that requires a soft flour. I've found that in spite of a higher protein content (13%), unbleached, white whole-wheat flour works fine for me. Even when I bake scones.

What, Addie? I still sift flour like my grandma taught me...you mean I don't have to do that? I have my grandma's sifter and use it all the time!

I sift too, although I have my own flour sifter. I'm always careful to see if a recipe calls for sifting before measuring, since so many recipes I use are old ones. My Mom's sifter has now been designated a sugar sifter if I'm using a large amount of powder sugar.

 

[Addie]

I am glad you mentioned sifting I always wondered either to measure first then sift or sift into the cup. It does make a big difference with dry ingredients since they can be packed and the end result may be more flour than the recipe calls for.

Just remember if the recipe says "2 cups of sifted flour, you measure out your flour after you have sifted it.

 

[Addie]

What, Addie? I still sift flour like my grandma taught me...you mean I don't have to do that? I have my grandma's sifter and use it all the time!

I hate to watch Martha S. bake. According to her and a lot of others on TV, nope you no long have to sift. Just whisk all the dry ingredients. Hogwash!

I keep a zippy bag of the dry ingredients in the fridge. Saves me a lot of work when someone asks me for Hershey's Chocolate Cake. I always sift it before I add any of the wet ingredients. Like you, I grew up sifting and I always will sift.

 

[Aunt Bea]

If you don't still have your Granny's sifter you can get good results using a fine mesh wire strainer similar to this one. Just tap it against the palm of your hand.

Browne-Foodservice - S9098 8" Fine Mesh Stainless Steel Single Strainer

 

[bakechef]

I don't often sift anymore, I don't find a difference. I do sift if I'm using a lot of spices to help break up the lumpy bits, or if my baking soda looks a bit clumpy. My mom ALWAYS sifts.

I do need a new sifter, the one I have gets more rust every time I wash it (which isn't often). I like a sifter because the ingredients go straight into the bowl, I always make a mess with dry ingredients in a sieve.

Sent from my XT1080 using Discuss Cooking mobile app

 

[RPCookin]

I don't often sift anymore, I don't find a difference. I do sift if I'm using a lot of spices to help break up the lumpy bits, or if my baking soda looks a bit clumpy. My mom ALWAYS sifts.

I do need a new sifter, the one I have gets more rust every time I wash it (which isn't often). I like a sifter because the ingredients go straight into the bowl, I always make a mess with dry ingredients in a sieve.

Sent from my XT1080 using Discuss Cooking mobile app

When I sift, I use a screen sieve, but I don't usually sift unless I feel the need to thoroughly mix the dry ingredients. What I do is weigh rather than depend on volume.

1 cup of flour is supposed to weigh 5 ounces. Unsifted flour here in arid Colorado comes out of my big glass flour canister dead on - I've weighed it several times just to test. It also tells me that my cheapo tin measuring cups are accurate, something I was a bit surprised to find out. I suppose that in a more humid environment, a cup might weigh a bit more. Sifted flour should be a bit lighter, but I've never tested it.

 

[CharlieD]

Since I've been "teaching" the young lads how to bake, we've been weighing flour and applying baker's percentage. I have noticed a difference in the pie crust dough when we've used pastry flour vs. AP.

+ 1. The best way to do it.

 

[bakechef]

When I sift, I use a screen sieve, but I don't usually sift unless I feel the need to thoroughly mix the dry ingredients. What I do is weigh rather than depend on volume.

1 cup of flour is supposed to weigh 5 ounces. Unsifted flour here in arid Colorado comes out of my big glass flour canister dead on - I've weighed it several times just to test. It also tells me that my cheapo tin measuring cups are accurate, something I was a bit surprised to find out. I suppose that in a more humid environment, a cup might weigh a bit more. Sifted flour should be a bit lighter, but I've never tested it.

I weigh as well, it's just easier, and so much more accurate. When I convert my old recipes I also use the 5 oz. per cup of flour standard, it works well for me.

 

[Mad Cook]

When baking cakes we are faced with the question what flour to use, should it be cake flour, self-rising, all purpose, bleached, unbleached etc.

So I am curious, what are your preferences?

It depends on the recipe. I usually use self-raising flour for cakes because that's what most British cake recipes ask for, plain flour for pastry, "strong" flour (ie flour with a high gluten fcontent for most yeast cookery- but in any case use what the recipe states. I like unbleached because it is usually better quality than artificially and chemically bleached flour.

Unless you really know what you are doing don't try playing around with the type of flour or he raising agent in a recipe as you will be heading for disaster.

 

[taxlady]

I often substitute whole grain flour for white flour and with cakes, biscuits, cookies, and muffins, it has never been a problem.

 

[mech3d]

So much great information - this is a great forum, glad I found it.

 

[Addie]

So much great information - this is a great forum, glad I found it.

We are glad you found it also. Stick around for more information and fun.

 

[Mad Cook]

All of the above is very interesting to me, although I don't bake. I only have AP flour on hand for that reason. If I get inspired to ever make a cake, I'll sure remember this AB!



Another question I've always wondered about....do brands of flours make any difference in the product?

I must say that there are brands that I don't use because I don't think the results are as good as with those that I do use. (No point in mentioning brands as I'm not in your area.) Price is not always an issue in this

I tend to be less picky about plain flour than I am about self raising flour. The only difference I can see between plain flours sourced from reputable sources is that the cheaper brands need more sifting. Sifting flour is a bit of a thing among cooks in my country. All English cookery books call for it when baking. From observations while watching Food Network and other US cookery programmes, American cooks don't usually bother with sifting. Is that generally the case? Specific "cake" flours are a bit of a recent innovation in the UK and don't seem to be widely used.

 

[Addie]

I honestly think the not sifting and using a whisk instead came about because sifting takes time, using a whisk is much quicker. On TV, time is of the essence. So using the whisk came about. I always sift. But then I am not in front of a TV camera.

 

[Mad Cook]

I often substitute whole grain flour for white flour and with cakes, biscuits, cookies, and muffins, it has never been a problem.

Sorry, Taxi, I didn't make myself clear. I meant self-raising as opposed to plain flour (ie flour packed without raising agents added at the factory), not whole grain, white, etc. I often substitute flours as you metion.

 

[taxlady]

I quit sifting flour when I switched to wholegrain, so I don't sift out the bran. Okay, I do sift wholegrain cake flour. For the hard flour, I really don't find it causes a problem. I used to use a fork to mix the ingredients until I saw someone use a whisk. It's quicker and seems more efficient than a fork

 

[bakechef]

I must say that there are brands that I don't use because I don't think the results are as good as with those that I do use. (No point in mentioning brands as I'm not in your area.) Price is not always an issue in this

I tend to be less picky about plain flour than I am about self raising flour. The only difference I can see between plain flours sourced from reputable sources is that the cheaper brands need more sifting. Sifting flour is a bit of a thing among cooks in my country. All English cookery books call for it when baking. From observations while watching Food Network and other US cookery programmes, American cooks don't usually bother with sifting. Is that generally the case? Specific "cake" flours are a bit of a recent innovation in the UK and don't seem to be widely used.

I grew up sifting, and most people that I knew that baked, sifted. I think that a new generation is "discovering" baking and this is just a shortcut that has become popular. I sometimes sift and sometimes don't. With most things I don't really notice much difference. I will say that as soon as I buy a better sifter, I'll likely sift more since my instinct is to sift.

 

[Blackitty]

I don't have a sifter.

I've been watching Alton Brown (really like him, so much better than the rest of the show-offs) and he said to skip the sifter. Said we should weigh the flour (he's very big on weighing!) and then put the stuff in the food processor to sift it.

Running it through the FP does make it poofier, but it loses some of the poof when it's transferred.

Any thoughts on FP versus real sifting? (Should I get a sifter?)