How to Sift Flour Without a Flour Sifter

Sifting flour is crucial in many baking recipes, especially cakes and breads. Most avid bakers use a special tool called a flour sifter to incorporate air into the flour, and separate the particles. However, many cooks don't have this piece of equipment.

If you need to sift flour, but don't own a sifter, here are some kitchen tricks that will yield the same results.

Instructions

1. To make 1 cup of sifted flour, first measure 1 cup of unsifted flour. Pour it into a strainer, and hold the strainer above your mixing bowl.

2. With a fork, stir the flour in the strainer so that it falls into the mixing bowl below. The strainer combined with the fork action helps to mix air into the flour and separate the particles. This gives the same effect as if you had used a traditional flour sifter.

3. Alternatively, measure 1 cup of unsifted flour, and pour into a large sealable tupperware container.

4. Close the container, and shake vigorously. The shaking also has the same effect as sifting.

5. Whenever you bake a cake from scratch, sift the flour to give it an airy, spongy texture. Or if you bake a cake from a boxed mix, be sure to sift the powder for best results.