I think it is just preference. I have never sifted my pawdered sugar and my frosting turns out fine even using a tip 1. I sifted my sugar at first. All the sifter used to do is make my hand hurt.. Other than the crappy hand held sifter that takes for ever that I own is there a secret way to sift sugar other than this way? However, when I bought a decent sieve from a catering supplier it worked alot better and the icing went through alot faster.
I store my sugar 50 at a time in a large plastic bin. I use a metal strainer type to sift. I never sift the regular way now. I will definetly try one of the wire mesh type.
Thanks for the visual It is always so helpful. I was just talking about it this weekend too. I have the sifter that requires you to squeeze the handle.. Then I saw an eppy of Martha S and she suggest just to whisk.
I save the squeeze method for small quanity ie cake mix etc. Doug, in the last few years two elderly neighbor ladies, both very dear friends, passed away. Each had that type of cabinet in their kitchens, and in spite of my shameless hints, they were willed to family members. I would have torn out a wall of cabinets to have one of those things!! I do the whisking thing too. Too enamored of modern whiz-bang technology.
What are sifters? Is there a need to sift flour or powdered sugar in baking? Is it a must to sift each time you bake? The word sift came from the word sieve. It is commonly used as a term that intends to separate. In cooking, a sifter is a term or a process used to separate crumbs or lumps in common ingredients such as flour and sugar.
A sifter for flour is called a flour sifter. Powdered sugar may contain lumps that affect the texture of the baking projects. It is because it absorbs the moisture in the air. One way to remove these lumps is by sifting. Sifting is a process wherein you separate and retain parts of sugar, flour, ashes etc.
This means that these dry ingredients will pass through fine mesh material. This procedure will separate dry and unwanted particles. When sifting, there may be different materials that you may need. Having your sifter is very important, a container that will contain the sifted product, kitchen towel, and utensils. Now a sifted powder sugar is a sugar that ha s gone through the process. I mean that it has been trough a sifter, which is a kind of strainer made with a fine mesh screen in a container.
This is used to separate the particles and incorporate air. This also used to break up clumps and separate other foreign matters. A flour sifter is one type of this strainer. Once the flour has undergone the sifting process, it has more volume to it. This can be insects, moldy materials, taken as flour mixes. Examples of such materials are fine herbs, spices, sugar, and other small materials.
It removes lumps and fines. First and foremost you have to be ready with your ingredients. You need to have your sugar, wide bowl, your sifter of course and a hand towel. You may need to check your recipe if it requires your sugar measurement done before or after sifting. For example, your recipe would require you to add mL of sifted sugar then it should be done after sifting.
If your sugar contains clumps, then the more it needs to be sifted. Now choose a bowl. Use the widest bowl possible to avoid unnecessary clutter. If your sifter is wider than your bowl you may use a paper towel to prevent the clutter.
Now to start sifting pour a small amount of sugar on the sifter. Add a few more spoonful as you go with the process. To sift gently shake it and tap the side if necessary especially if are the sugar is stuck. Well, it depends on what you are baking. Sifting sugar would simply get rid of the lumps that are formed by the absorption of moisture in the air.
If you want to get away with the lumps so there is a must for you to sift your sugar. But if you do not notice lumps it is safe to go on without sifting. My wife disagrees. She thinks that if a recipe tells you to sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, etc.
When a baking recipe says to sift together ingredients, it is always referring to dry ingredients like flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder, etc. To sift these ingredients together, you place them into a sifter and then sift them all into a bowl.
This is done using a flour sifter, like the one shown below, or by using a fine metal mesh sieve. A sifter has a handle that turns a wheel which forces the dry ingredients through a metal screen, similar to a food mill for dry ingredients.
With a sieve, you have to shake to get the ingredients to move through the mesh or push then through with a spoon or rubber spatula.
What is the reason for sifting together dry ingredients? The usual reason given is to thoroughly mix together those ingredients. Otherwise, you would simply place all the dry ingredients into a bowl and stir them together. The idea, then, is that this is not adequate. To be honest, the only time I sift flour is if a recipe calls for sifted flour rather than flour, sifted. Otherwise, I skip the sifting.
But, that is not the only reason I defy this baking rule. How do we sift together dry ingredients like flour, baking powder, and salt? We place them in a sifter or a fine mesh sieve strainer.
So, you would put your flour into the sifter. Then your salt. How does the baking powder and salt become perfectly distributed into the flour while you sift? What is causing these dry ingredients to thoroughly intermingle? The fineness to which the granulated sugar is ground determines the family X: factor: The X: designations are derived from the mesh sizes of the screens used to separate powdered sugar into various sizes.
Thus, 4X would have a larger particle size, whereas 10X would have a smaller particle size. Confectioners or powdered sugar, available at supermarkets, is usually 10X. Always sift it before using. Yes spot on. Icing sugar is what we call it here in Australia also. Pure icing sugar is what is used for royal icing and has lots of lump and must be sifted to make good royal icing. Icing sugar mixture is our version that has the cornstarch in it and its pretty smooth.
No need to sift and great for buttercream. I always sift first now. I end up with a smooth creamy buttercream great for smooth cakes where as before I always had trouble getting it flawless. I don't sift and I haven't had any problems with lumps or smoothing.
I think it is just preference. I have never sifted my pawdered sugar and my frosting turns out fine even using a tip 1. Maybe someday I'll buy a sifter and try it and see what the difference is.
I sifted my sugar at first. Now I never do and I don't even notice a difference in the frosting at all. Although this method isn't as effective as a sifter, wire mesh strainer or whisk, it makes the sugar less compact than it was straight out of the bag. Mindy Baca has been writing about education and public health since , with work appearing on various websites. Baca's interests include maternal, infant and child health, health disparities and public-health ethics.
She holds a Master of Science in public health from Walden University. If the sugar contains many clumps, always sift before measuring. If measuring by weight such as ounces or grams , it shouldn't matter whether you sift before or after.
Use the widest bowl you can find. Sifting can be messy. Use a large, wide container to minimize cleanup. If your container is not significantly wider than your sifter, you may want to put down paper towels or a plate underneath it to catch spills. Alternatively, use a large sheet of wax paper. This method is best used with small amounts of sugar at a time. Don't pile the sifted sugar high enough to prevent you from picking up the paper for pouring into another container.
Pour a small amount of sugar into a sifter or strainer. Trying to fill the sifter fuller won't save time, and can cause sugar to spill over the top and make a mess. A metal can-shaped sifter with a hand crank on the side is an easy, relatively tidy sifting tool.
If you do not have one, you can use a fine mesh strainer instead, or see the section on sifting without a sifter. Gently shake the sifter or operate its crank. Shake the sifter or strainer gently back and forth over the bowl or wax paper. If it has a crank on the side, press it repeatedly with your hand. These motions cause the sugar to shift, sending the fine particles of sugar through the mesh.
Do not shake up and down, and keep motions gentle. If you are too vigorous, you may create a "cloud" of powdered sugar that makes a mess of your kitchen.
Tap the sides if the sugar is stuck. If the sugar is lumpy or hard-packed, it is more likely to get stuck in the mesh. If you see the trail of sugar stop or slow almost to a halt, tap the side of the strainer or sifter with a few, short motions of your hand.
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