2007-11-25 18:15:35 · 19 answers · asked by sophie 1 in Food & Drink ➔ Cooking & Recipes
Partly to make it fluffier & to keep it from getting lumps when mixing.
2007-11-25 18:17:58 · answer #1 · answered by SpaGirl 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Maybe it doesn't. How old is the recipe you are using? Recipes used to routinely say to sift the flour and older recipes still have this instruction. But most regular white or unbleached wheat flour these days is "Pre-sifted". It doesn't need to be sifted to remove lumps as there aren't any. Flour does get compacted, but with pre-sifted flour, you can just fluff it up with a fork instead of sifting. I bake a LOT of cookies and I never sift flour any more. I did 30 years ago, but not any more.
2007-11-26 02:35:23 · answer #2 · answered by treebird 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
hey sophie, like the others say it knocks out the lumps? what ever that means, it also adds air to the flour to make it lighter for what you are baking. most of the time it calls for sifting is when you are making cake and you want the flour to be the closest to the measurement they are calling for in the recipe. if you do take the extra to sift also include your baking powder in your step. what i do is make my cup scoop as light as i can and not compact the flour so tight in the cup, and put it in aseperate bowl with the baking powder and with a wire whisk.move the flour lightly around in the bowl for the same effect as sifting. good luck and good baking,bacondebaker
2007-11-26 04:01:19 · answer #3 · answered by bacondebaker 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The reason for sifting flour is that it not only gets out the lumps but it becomes finer, more aerated and helps the cake (or whatever) to rise sufficiently. If you were to follow the recipe without doing this you would find that your baking turned out a lot heavy than what is intended. It is worth taking the time to do the sifting.
2007-11-26 02:19:45 · answer #4 · answered by Papooselet 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
You sift flour to get any lumps out and also it puts air in the flour.
2007-11-26 02:19:25 · answer #5 · answered by Doodle 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Aeration and to get rid of lumps. Sifting flour helps to incorporate air and this'll help baked goods to rise during baking.
2007-11-26 08:20:02 · answer #6 · answered by PS L 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
(Why does the flour need to be sifted?)
It adds air which makes it easier to mix other ingredients in and it gets rid of any lumps.
You can usually get away fine without sifting it if you really can't.
2007-11-26 02:20:59 · answer #7 · answered by Oryx 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
To remove any small hard pieces of flour. Also, if you are sifting flour and salt or baking powder together, it helps blend them.
2007-11-26 02:18:13 · answer #8 · answered by DisIllusioned 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The more you sieve the flour, the more air is added into the flour and reducing lumpiness, creating a much lighter baking mixture without folding too much.
2007-11-26 02:39:46 · answer #9 · answered by Desert Rose 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No it is not get the lumps out. it's to aerate the flour to make your cake, cookie or pastry lighter and fluffier. non sifted flour gives baked good a denser texture.
2007-11-26 02:19:39 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
i bake and the reason why you need to sift when making certain things is that you don't want lumps of flour in your pastries and other baked goods :)
2007-11-26 02:18:10 · answer #11 · answered by blue fire 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋