On Sun, 26 Jul 2009 15:19:01 -0500, Damaeus
> wrote:

>I've seen recipes calling for "sifted flour". Would someone mind telling
>me what good it does? I can honestly tell no difference in the final
>recipe whether the flour was sifted or not. Furthermore, I look at flour
>in a mixing bowl, then sift it, then run my hand around in it and it looks
>again like it's never been sifted.
>
>So why do people sift?
>
>Damaeus

Sifting serves two purposes - first, it removes any foreign bodies or
lumps from the flour... and second it incorporates more air into the
mix to make it lighter. Neither of which is particularly necessary
nowadays especially if you're using flour straight out of the packet
and it hasn't been sitting around in a cupboard for years on end. If
you open a fresh packet of flour it'll be nice and fluffy already.