Blog of pastry chef David Lebovitz, author of Room For Dessert, Ripe For Dessert, The Great Book of Chocolate and The Perfect Scoop. Dessert and chocolate recipes using seasonal fruit and berries, and writing about Paris, including travel tips and stories about living the sweet life in Paris.

Is Sifting Necessary?

14 comments - 08.01.2007

One baking question that I'm frequently asked—"Is sifting really necessary?"

I hope that answers the question...

14 Comments

By Marcus on August 1, 2007 6:53 AM

Dave, off topic, is there any particular reason that RSS subscribers to your blog get every post duplicated? It's not a big deal, but odds are you don't read your own blog, so you wouldn't know. Heck, maybe it's just me?

By dodo on August 1, 2007 7:18 AM

I use live bookmarks via rss and i dont get them duplicate, havent tried with a proper rss reader thought

By Rita on August 1, 2007 7:49 AM

I use Google Reader and I get them duplicated every single time. Kinda wierd...

We three are really off topic, lol.

By flavia on August 1, 2007 7:54 AM

ok, back to business now!! I'm a baker and the only thing I sift is cocoa and confectioner's sugar...The rest goes "as is" and works just the same...Parole de patissiere !!

By PF on August 1, 2007 8:20 AM

I don't get double posts with Firefox browser

By Mercedes on August 1, 2007 8:53 AM

Cocoa powder and powdered sugar are the two things I always sift. In other news, I'm sure you saw todays ice cream articles in the NYTimes. I'm skeptical of Bittman's claim about cornstarch ice cream, especially with skim milk; however, Harold McGee's article on dondurma was cool...

By David on August 1, 2007 9:17 AM

I use NewsFire and sometimes they come through twice around here too, since I have to make the inevitable corrections after posting.

Since I can't read what I write as clearly as I can after it's posted, I do go back and make changes and they randomly do pop up sometimes twice in my feeder.

I think there may be something in your Preferences that controls that, but I'm better at doling out baking advice rather than technical advice.
Apologies, but perfection has it's its price ; )

Mercedes: Yes, I did see that. And I (and others) beat him to the punch and do have a cornstarch-based ice cream in The Perfect Scoop (page 133) that's quite good.

By mbs on August 1, 2007 11:57 AM

just a note. if they tell you to sift brown sugar, beware that it will clog your strainer instantly; the trick is to mix it up first with your other dry to-be-sifted ingredients.

By Hillary on August 1, 2007 12:26 PM

Haha what a great exhibit. How do you think the cocoa powder got THAT clumpy? Is it from moisture in the air?

By Judith in Umbria on August 1, 2007 3:25 PM

Hmmmm, I just whiz things in the FP and it gets all airy and separated.

By Joanne on August 1, 2007 3:45 PM

I agree, i never sift even when the recipe says to (GASP!) unless i think need to. and you get pretty good at figuring out when you need to with time and experience... If you're more of the paranoid type i think you need to sift all the time, though. it should give you peace of mind.

Btw, good tips Judith & mbs, i will definately keep that in mind.

By Sean on August 1, 2007 5:20 PM

OMG, why are there rocks in your cocoa?

By Lu on August 1, 2007 5:39 PM

I rarely sift, but if I do I use my strainer. If I need to do a quick "sift", I use a big whisk in the dry ingredient bowl.

On another happy-go-lucky note.... YAY, the Blenheim jam is almost at my house, the Blenheim jam is almost at my house! Did I repeat myself? Did I repeat myself?

(Translation: thanks for the tip oh-so-many month ago, David, I can't wait to taste it.)

By Kevin on August 2, 2007 10:51 AM

Cocoa Pebbles! haha Just pour the milk.