Among the many things you can do with a sieve in the kitchen is sift flour to make your favorite desserts. Sieving or screening consists of separating two solids with particles of different sizes through a mechanical process. In the case of flour, passing it through the sieve eliminates any lumps that may be generated during packaging or due to humidity in the environment. In addition, sifting the flour also ‘aerates’ it, which will then provide greater sponginess to the sponge cakes. But if there is a risk that accompanies sifting, it is that of leaving the kitchen in a mess.
Generally, you can sift the flour with a continuous movement of the wrist, or with the help of small taps on the sieve with the other hand. However, when applying this technique, part of the flour will most likely spill over both sides of the strainer and fall out of the container with the already sifted flour. Although it is ideal to use a sieve smaller than the container where we pour the sifted flour, using a large sieve will make this process much faster.
Luckily, we can always use grandma’s tricks to avoid dirtying the counter with flour. Tiktoker Mari Sol (@lacaprichosa17) is a great fan of sharing her baking recipes and, on this occasion, she has published a video on the social network with a trick that will help you sift the flour. And leaving the kitchen spotless! Instead of pouring the flour into the strainer from a glass directly, Mari Sol suggests placing the bottom of the strainer over the glass full of flour before starting to sift it.
Next, press the glass and turn the strainer upside down. On the container into which we are going to pour the sifted flour, grab the glass and make circular movements, scratching over the holes of the strainer. In this way, the flour will go down little by little until it sifts through the strainer. The best of all is that it will only fall through the hole occupied by the glass, so you will simply have to use a container to collect the flour with a surface area larger than that of the glass and you can sift it without any risk of messing up the countertop!
You know, always apply this trick before making your baking recipes, to give your desserts a much spongier texture without making too much mess.
