Even if a recipe doesn't state that sifting dry goods is needed, Williams says she always does it. "I don't think it hurts—it lightens the load," she says, meaning that the result will be a more cloud ...

Sifting can also be helpful in very wet batters, as “The King Arthur Baking School” explains with regard to its sticky toffee pudding. The more you stir flour with water, the more gluten forms, which ...

Baking comes with plenty of rules: specific measurements (and sometimes weights), parchment-lined pans, unsalted butter. One of those rules that pops up every once in a while is sifting flour. It’s ...

I’ll admit it: Every time a recipe demands that I sift an ingredient like all-purpose flour, I raise my eyebrows. Do I really have to break out an extra tool that’s notoriously tricky to clean? The ...

Old recipes and cookbooks are time capsules — relics that give you insight into a different era. Sometimes it’s just the type of recipe (so much Jell-O!) or the name of a particular ingredient. Other ...

Q. When a recipe calls for a cup of sifted flour, do you sift before measuring or measure after sifting? A. It depends on the recipe writer, and how well-versed he or she is in recipe writing style.

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts. Very often, you’ll see a baking recipe call for sifting flour into a ...

Q: For many years, when sifting flour with a sieve, I have never found insects. When I spoke about this with a Haredi friend, she told me she finds insects in her flour. How can this be? Because she ...

Old recipes and cookbooks are time capsules — relics that give you insight into a different era. Sometimes it’s just the type of recipe (so much Jell-O!) or the name of a particular ingredient (see my ...