Cake shop owner told me to stop sifting flour for quickbreads

I always sifted flour for muffins and banana bread until a baker at Sweetwaters in Portland said I was wasting time. Tried her way last weekend and the texture was fine. Anyone else dropped steps that feel like rules but aren't?

3 comments

3 Comments

grant.felix26d ago

Stop sifting your life away, life's too short for extra flour steps.

nora_park26d ago

Yeah I totally stopped worrying about lumps in pancake batter after someone told me it's fine and honestly they're right. @grant.felix you'd get along with my neighbor who insists lumps make pancakes fluffier. I used to spend forever whisking muffin batter smooth too now I just stir it like ten times and call it done. My banana bread still comes out great nobody's complained yet.

ninas6725d ago

Oh for sure! I stopped sifting for quickbreads years ago after a similar talk with a pastry chef friend. She said the only time sifting matters is if your flour is super clumpy or you're doing something really delicate like a sponge cake. For muffins and banana bread the gluten development is so minimal anyway that a few lumps won't hurt. Honestly I think we just do it because we saw it in old recipes or our grandmas did it. Now I just dump flour in dump the baking powder and baking soda on top and give it a quick stir with a fork. That's it. Saves like 5 minutes and the texture is exactly the same.