Does sifted flour make bread dough lighter? (Plus a cake recipe!)
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- Опубликовано: 5 фев 2025
- Sifting flour is only useful in recipes where a dough or batter is mixed gently. Some people have asked me about this, and others have told me that I should try it. So, there you have it. The answer is short and simple. No, sifting flour does not make bread dough lighter. As I show in the video the flour is only light and fluffy and not lumpy while it is dry and undisturbed. As soon as water is added, and the dough is kneaded it turns in the worst lump that you could imagine. Sifting will not help here.
There are cases where you might want to sift your flour for bead making. If you have whole wheat flour that contains a lot of bran and you would like to make it slightly lighter, then you can sift the coarse bran out of the flour.
If your flour has been sitting in the cupboard for ages it may be infested with some creepy crawlies. Sifting would be a way to find out for sure. Of course, if you find some bugs in there, then you may want to get rid of that bag of flour.
Back in the old days people used to sift flour because the production process was not as refined and there was a chance that the flour could have some foreign objects in it. Sifting would remove them.
Nowadays there is no reason to sift fresh flour as it will be clean.
Getting back to sifting to make something light and fluffy, here is a prime example of when you absolutely should do it. Making a Genoise sponge which is meant to be gently stirred with a spatula and requires minimal disturbance to keep it nice and light, unlike bread dough that is beaten up in a mixer or kneaded by hand until it becomes a dense lump.
A recipe like this is the only time sifting will help with lightness. If you are mixing something in a mixer, then it obviously cannot make things light as you are beating the batter to hell.
Sift your flour when you want to remove unwanted stuff from it. Sift your flour when the recipe requires gentle mixing.
As an extra I have added the Genoise cake recipe. I know this is a bread channel, and I only wanted to show the mixing process for the cake, but then I decided to make a recipe out of it. Perhaps you will find it useful. It is a great cake. Easy to make and super soft, light, and fluffy.
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CHAPTERS
0:00 Why it would not make bread lighter
1:44 Why you might want to sift flour for bread making
2:39 Genoise sponge recipe
3:52 Why sifting flour helps with making sponge lighter
5:00 Baking the sponge
5:27 Finishing the cake
7:49 The delicious result
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#Bread #Baking #ChainBaker
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🥨 To learn more about bread making click here ⤵️
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Thanks for providing your years of work and close attention to the fundamentals of baking. As an older man who bakes less than 10 times a month I have been slowly accumulating the knowledge only gained by repetition. Infrequent bakes leaves many comparisons muddled. Your willingness to reveal how the science of combining ingredients for a successful fermentation while debunking common mythology is priceless. You have filled in the fundamentals skipped by others who must assume everyone has the basics while proceeding to demonstrate next level techniques. I have been really excited to find and view your no nonsense productions. Again, thank you!
Thank you so much, Bill. I have always learned this way, so I thought other people may find it useful too. The little details are the most important. I'm glad you're finding my videos useful. Cheers!
Really, really, really not enough viewers comparing to those Turkish kitchen clips. On the other hand, it's been a privilege to be included in such small but exclusive club. Thank you for showing us your expertise.
Thank you so much! :))
Omg you have answered a lot of questions I had. I have been asking so many people and chefs on how to make my cake spongy and none have answered my question. They just told me to wrap it with plastics. Thank you sir 🙏
I’ve never sifted flower I figured end result is the same. Also I personally always wondered why some people sifted and others did not on the same exact recipe different cook I guess. Great video also I will try this sponge cake looks delicious
I have never thought of sifting flour for bread making. I really never sift it for plain cakes and cookies just give it a stir and it seems fine - I will defiantly try this cake and sift the flour!
Some people say that the reason to sift the flour is because it could contain lumps. Others may say because it could contain pebbles, I think this applies for flour obtained of low quality.
But it's very unlikely to happen.
Love these technical deep dives. Thank you for sharing your experiments and expertise.
I have a home grain mill, so prepare my own whole grain flour. If it needs to be "fine" I sift out the larger particles and put them through a little coffee/spice mill until they are fine enough to suit me. Or if I am too lazy to do that, I simply save them for the next bake where it doesn't matter what the particle size is. Sometimes the coarse particles make a nice bread topping.
I've always wondered about sifting. Thanks so much for clearing it up and showing how to make such a beautiful sponge.
Can you make a comparison between low protein and high protein? for bread making and for other aplications too. i got a 16% flour 0000 its really good for high hidration but a bit too stiff for low hidration.
Thank you sir i learned so much from your videos.
Saludos desde Argentina!
pd: you should try to make Alfajores con dulce de leche!
I will make a video on that someday :) Cheers!
This is the best bread channel In RUclips
🙏
Hi Charlie
Thank you for the unexpected sponge recipe, what a treat!
I have made sponge cakes for many decades and considering there are only a few sponge variations, they are extremely versatile as long as the cake is not left around more than a day of baking.
I do things just a little differently to your recipe. I swap out 2 tablespoons plain flour and replace with corn flour and I sift the flour 3 times (the last time being over the egg mixture). The only other thing I do differently is add the melted butter to a couple of spoonfuls of the egg and flour mixture and then fold that into the main bowl, I find the butter doesn’t sink to the bottom of the bowl and requires less mixing.
Like most baking though, there are usually different methods that can be used and the end result is the same.
I would love to see more of your favourite cake recipes please Charlie.
As always, I thoroughly enjoyed your informative video, thank you.
Keep well and stay safe
Kind regards
Donna (from Australia)
Hey Donna :) I enjoyed making a cake for a change.
Those are some great tips! The corn flour and reduced mixing may make this even lighter and fluffier. I'll definitely try it next time.
I do enjoy making cakes from time to time, but I don't have much of a sweet tooth. My all time favourite is the Russian honey cake - Medovik. Perhaps I will make a video on that one day.
Thank you Donna.
Kind regards.
@@ChainBaker medovik is the best. As a Russian I can confirm
😁👍
Great tips!
I like your suggestion on how to use your time while waiting.
Thanks for confirming the myth of "sifting" - and the recipe for the sponge cake. Most definitely for our Christmas family potluck (only because I'm already making brioche for our family Thanksgiving meal).
Thanks!
Thank you! ✌
Danke!
🙏
Just read one of the comments left here. Have to agree, clear instructions, mixed with some humour, and great baking!!! And, your voice is soothing. (I'm not a man, suppose only a woman would think of telling you that?!)
Thank you so much 🤩
Used the Genoise Sponge cake recipe to make madeleines (just had to try my new madeleine pans). Very nice indeed! Crispy edges, spongy cake. Photo has been posted in "Charlie's Baking Buddies".
I finally made an edible loaf because of this video. More than edible - it was gone in a day.
I did a biga, following exactly these percentages, but because I just can't stick to a recipe, I added butter at the end. I used so much butter (because if a little is good, a lot is better 🙄) the dough separated. I almost threw it out, but wanted to see what happens when you screw up. l folded and shaped the best I could. It turned out crazy good. The crumb was almost stretchy, moist and fluffy. The crust was thin and crispy
I'm so glad for your beginning videos; without them I'd still be making bricks.
Very good way of tricking us into making sponge cakes.. ;) ty Chef
😅
I just made this recipe and it came out delicious for me it is my first cake
….🤩😋🍰
YOU NEVER FAIL TO IMPRESS SIR 👍🏼
THANK YOU FOR SHARING THIS RECIPE ..
That is so cool! And very impressive for a first cake🤩 on to many more great bakes 👍
What an amazing surprise 🤩
That's super always wondered how it was done , definitely going to give it a go.
Definitely going to be trying this. Thank you for sharing.
I pack mine with mango jam. Terribly good.👍🏼
Keep up the good teaching.
🙏
I have to sift. Only because I freeze flour to kill weevils. When I defrost, it forms little pebbles.
I live in hot and humid climate.
I freeze rice and cornmeal too
Amazing sponge!
Wow... quite a revelation.. it is said that sifting the flour aerates the dough and lets yeast work better / faster / whatever. great to learn that its an urban legend..
Yeah gonna try that recipe. Awesome video.
Thank you! Let me know how it turns out :)
Wow. That cake looks epic
Hello Sir,
Your Channel is the law & order (!) of all the bread baking channels here, hands down 🙌🏻 .
Maybe some Alcohol would be nice on this sponge cake, some rum or so
Haha I love that :D Yeah some rum or gin wold go down well in that cake :)
Limoncello!
I once watched someone use floss to cut a cake like this, scored the sides, wrapped the floss into the grooves with a loop they just tugged on each end off, tightening the loop until it cut the cake through.
Ha ha ha! It is a relief to see the perfect baker finally not absolutely perfect in something!😅 Cake making is definitely the field I can compete with you in young man!😉 There were some minor mistakes you made during the process of making the genoise my beautiful! That made me so happy!😂
Oh yes I leave the cake making for my missus. She's a pro pastry chef 😁 I'm a total noob 😂
i looked through your videos but didn't see anything about this.... when you sifted the whole wheat flour & had the bran remaining, it reminded me of the recipe i use to make whole wheat, which i learned from [i don't recall]. this involves soaking the whole wheat flour ahead of time with part of the water to soften the bran. the idea being that the "hard" bran has sharp edges that cut the developing dough & keep it from rising properly. i cannot verify.
There are two methods that are similar to what you describe. One is a soaker, which I used in one of my latest recipes - ruclips.net/video/zbfgAwGzEz0/видео.html
And another one is autolyse - ruclips.net/video/Kcy4_HGf2SE/видео.html
You are right. The bran does exactly that - it has a shearing effect on the gluten.
I always sifted my flour because my grandmother always sifted hers. My guess is today's flour is much more refined than what she used when she was first learning how to bake.
Your grandmother sifted her flour because her mother did and so on. If you go back far enough (19th or early 20th century) it was necessary because it removed "foreign material" from the flour (bugs) which was common (large quantities of flour stored in cloth bags made it inevitable). Today shopping is easier and we typically buy smaller quantities when we need it and store it in airtight containers thus eliminating the need for sifting except maybe for cake flour when baking cakes and even then I have to wonder how much it maters if you are using baking powder as a leavener.
Why do i have to take the eggs to 40°c? sry if this was a stupid question but i don't have a termometer yet :/
I won't stop telling you how great and helpful your videos are man you are awesome!
Cheers Juan! :)) It does something with the proteins making the eggs hold air better. And it helps with dissolving the sugar too!
@@ChainBaker oh i see thanks Man!
Hi, do you have any good channel (friend) who make cakes? I love breads too, you learned me so much, when to add salt, what to do with fat etc.
Thanks bro
Totally! He's a good friend of mine and we worked together for a few years :) here's the link - ruclips.net/user/AveryRaassen
Tell him I sent you 😉
I like using string to cut cakes like that, to me it is much easier. But if you push with your string instead of cut with it your cake may find its self in the floor, and you very up set. Bet that cake would be even better precut and put into the freezer for a few hours, it would be extra special on a hot summer day, ice cream cake. I make a frozen yogurt funnel cake that is fab.
Oh yes that sounds nice! :)
So many delicious recipes! I'll have to space them out over a few months or I'll be needing bigger clothes 😂
When you bain marie the eggs over water, how can you tell it's ready to come off if you dont have a thermometer?
Not sure if I could tell exactly when. A thermometer is a very good and very affordable investment. There are three things you should own to make most of my recipes - a probe, scales, and a dough scraper.
In the baking world, sifting is considered a must. I always found it relatively pointless because it literally doesn't do much unless you're sifting into liquid. I realized it's pointless, you sift and get a really nice looking mound of smooth flour, then you hit it with a whisk and it looks exactly like what it'd look like pouring it out the bag. Sifting was done to remove impurities like you said, the reason it was done got lost as the years went by and RUclipsrs kept including it as a step.
good video. curious, have you tested to see if sifted flour makes a difference when baking oil-mixed pastry doughs pre-hydration? (crumbles, pie crusts, etc)? Does sifting help the oil more uniformly coat the flour
I have not. But I would imagine it making little to no difference. There's only one way to find out though ✌
My partner was asking me about sifting bread flour. Now I'm certain I don't have to. The cake was a treat to see. Thanks.
Glad it was helpful! :)
Shifting flour is a must if you are dealing with non branded flours to remove impurities and sediments....
Amazing. I was looking for a sponge cake and I coudln't find one on your playlist. Glad I found it from Flicker :)
If I wanted to add lemon juice to it will that be in the egg beating stage or when adding the flour?
You should change the topic to "And a great sponge recipe added :)
I am going to make this on the weekend. Goes great with espresso :)
I will post a picture on Flicker :)
The juice might change the texture of the cake. I would go with zest instead and then use the juice in the syrup ;) Oh yes and add the zest when mixing the eggs.
Great video as always CB! I always make a genoise by whipping the whites by themselves so I will have to give your double boiler method a try! Happy holidays my friend!!!
Thanks, Amol 🙏
I have never actually tried it any other way. Let me know what differences you find when you do try it
Happy holidays to you 😉🎄
You can also listen to cakes to know when they're done. Like microwave popcorn you want the bubbling/pops to get very far apart or have recently stopped. I tried this with bread but a thermometer is more consistent, and I haven't tried a thermometer for cakes.
I usually double check cakes with the thermometer.
Love your shit, nice and relaxed. Keep it up!
Cheers! :)
Will be making this cake later today
Let me know how it turns out 👍
What do I think 🤔 I'm running to kitchen to make that cake 🎂 🙃😅
I used a cake flour and after 45 minutes the surface color was still white 😄 but it was springy when I touched it . But when i poked in with toothpick it was liquidy. Maybe I should have used a baking flour ? It's still in the oven
Perhaps your oven bakes a bit differently. You can try raising the temperature next time. Or just bake for longer. How did it turn out?
@ChainBaker Yes maybe it's my oven 🤔. I increases the temperature to 400 and waited 30 more minutes. It came out in two layers. The bottom half was kind of underbaked with the egg and cheese noticeable. But the top half was came out PERFECTLY !!! Maybe I should have waited a little longer for the bottom half to look the same. But your recipe definitely works because I have never made such a spongy cake in my many trials before yours.
I use my canned flour which I canned in 1/2 gal glass mason jars in my oven so I have to sift it because once you dry can flour it gets big lumps.
What is the purpose of canning flour? I've never heard of it.
Very nice
And to make a regular chocolate cake, should the flour and other ingredients be sifted?
Not if you are going to beat it in a mixer for several minutes.
When I make a chiffon cake, I don't sift the flour when mixing it with the rest of the wet ingredients but I strain the batter before mixing with the meringue. Is this alright?
If it works, it works!
I've never sifted my flour for bread mostly because I'm new and just a tad lazy seemed very extra (I wouldn't describe myself as a baker) but all the bakers I know swear by sifting every bit of flour they touch. Seems since it didn't hurt the bread to sift it I guess it's okay if people waste their time doing it.
Thoughts on running the wheat germ through a mortar and pestel before adding it back to the flour? Could that improve consistency? (I've obviously never used wheat flour.)
You could do that. A finer texture would help with gluten development. Although I have never had any problems with regular whole wheat flour.
perhaps if you are measuring out the flour by volume, sifting will make a difference as you will have maybe only an extra 1/2 cup flour in your bread machine vs a whole extra cup or more!
That is definitely true for recipes that are measured by volume. But that is also the reason why I don't like that kind of measurement. It's too inconsistent. Here's a video about it - ruclips.net/video/070k4O2Ws1A/видео.html
I'm not a pro baker, but there are 3 things that everyone is constantly repeating over and over which are totally wrong. Watching videos like this one and of course through my own trial and errors I know that:
1. Sifting flour does nothing to the bread.
2. You can add lemon juice to milk.
3. Salt doesn't kill yeast.
Amen! 😄
@@ChainBaker after watching informative videos like yours, Foodgeek and The bread code, to name a few, I find it funny now when I see a recipe video where they sift some flour, put a small pile of salt on one side, yeast on the other, and say "we don't want the salt to touch the yeast, it will kill it", then taking a whisking and mixing everything 🤦🏻♂️
i mean, you can add lemon juice to milk, just dont let it sit for too long. if you let it sit however it's a good way to make a substitute for buttermilk if you live in a place where it's hard to get
This makes me wonder if it's possible to leaven a bread with egg or even whipped cream. It might be difficult because the sugar helps to stiffen the egg.
Would that be a bread though? I think that would turn it into a cake technically.
I always was told to sift to get the other dry ingredients to mix well
Works great for a cake. Not necessary for bread😉
@ChainBaker I appreciate that you answer all of your viewers. Because of your teaching, my bread game has gotten so good my family stopped buying bread.
🙏
I be like: "Me gonna try that Gênoise!"
I've never sifted flour for bread, but for cakes, yes. It was something Maman had taught me while baking.
AFAIK sifting traps micro air bubbles in the flour, turning into greater bubbles in the finished product. Theory at least. Could be ground for the next side by side comparison video.
That's only true for the sponge cake. Makes no difference when making bread dough.
How about sifting to make sure no bugs have sneaked into the flour.
I did sift the flour once because the recipe said I must. I never bought the sift thing, but when my grandma had a flour bin built into her cupboard it could get meal worms in it. I was happy to sift it for her.👍🏻
the issue with sifting to get rid of insects n stuff like that is that they lay eggs in the flour, and depending on just what is living inside your flour sifting it wont get rid of the eggs
@@goranpersson7726 Extra protein.
I'm betting that back in the day...they used to sift flour to separate out the bugs.
I only sift my whole wheat flour for my sourdough sandwich bread. I got that Rick from Trevor Wilson he suggested that the heavy bran in a good whole-wheat is too sharp for the gentle flour and sponge of a sourdough. I tried it, or forgot to sift, and it’s true the bran in whole-wheat is too abrasive! But… I found that a stone ground whole-wheat that passes through the sieve isn’t that abrasive!! But Stoneground Flour is too expensive though it has a nuttier flavour. But I use honey or maple syrup and dark barley diastatic powder and a pinch of ground ginger in my flour and wet ingredients… I’ve got tons of flavour happening!
Btw: the ground ginger thing I found in a Shaker Recipe Book years ago and in another lifetime. The Shakers always put a pinch of ginger in their bread to cove up the yeasty flavour of the Beer Barm of their 18th Century loaves.
Hi Rodney. Thanks for the input. Definitely some useful tips there. I am currently reading his book. It has taught me quite a few things already and I'm only halfway through. I must try adding a bit of ginger. Sounds interesting.
Cheers!
Wich flour you make bread can you tell us
For bread I use strong bread flour with 12.t% protein.
Great Video great Channel ... I love donated
Thank you so much for the support 😍
Another cracking video, I just got a stand mixer for xmas so there will be plenty of sponge cakes to be made...:)
Thank you, Gary. I should make some more cake videos. See how this one does. Perhaps I might ;)
...this would make a wonderful base for strawberry shortcake...great...ww....
In the 19th century, artisan baking really took off and wealth/status was reinforced by finery and sifted white bread was the most desirable. Poor people ate wholemeal bread - the wealthy demanded white bread. The impurities were added much like a barman watering down his whiskey. Bakers would add plaster of Paris to make it more white for instance. It’s crazy the shit they used to add to save on costs.
It is quite funny how that was. Most of the old peasant foods nowadays are considered to be far superior than the stuff the rich folk were eating. Joke's on them :D
@@ChainBaker true dat. They understood food on a molecular level and were far more innovative due to necessity. Half the stuff the aristocracy ate was inedible decor.
Can I use cake flour for the Genoise sponge or better to use regular flour?
Cake flour would probably be even better for it ;)
@@ChainBaker Thanks, I'll try the recipe using cake flour :)
Why would it do anything? You're not adding anything to the flour, or changing its composition, or anything.
You'd be surprised at how many people believe that it makes a difference.
....Hallo Charlie,welche Größer der Backform hast Du verwendet ? Danke für deine Antwort😋
Hallo Barbara. Die Kuchenform, die ich verwende, hat einen Durchmesser von 20 cm. Sie können aber auch darauf bis zu 24cm verwenden.
@@ChainBaker Hallo Charlie, ...wir können uns auch dutzen 😉,danke für deine schnelle Anwort, ich habe vor es eventuell am Wochende auszu probieren. Ich werde es dir danach erzählen lg. Barbara😊
no point in doing it unless you sift the water as well
Yum! Must try
So much better than a Twinkie.
I made the Genoise Sponge cake for our family Christmas lunch - with cake flour and fresh berries. My mother did not believe that I made it. 😆 Photo has been posted.
You made it extra beautiful this time! :)
Made this today using cake flour and while I did have a couple packets of "strawberry jam" from McDonald's (!!!), I decided to go with raspberry preserves. Used a blend of regular and Meyer lemons for the zest and Meyer lemon juice for the syrup. Mmmmm not sure if I'm willing to share this with the family..... Photo has been posted.
It is so light that you may not even notice how it disappears and the next thing you know half the cake is in your belly :D I almost did not share it either haha!
What's the purpose behind beating eggs over the heat in cake making process??
It helps dissolve the sugar, but more importantly it makes the egg hold more air and make it lighter. Something to do with denaturing the protein, but I'm not much of a scientist :D
@@ChainBaker thanks so much for that piece of info!!
I will definitely try this cake in summer
I only sift my flower when making fluffy pancakes biszkopy or Ladyfingers
What I sometimes like to do is to sift my bread dough flour a little at a time into the wet ingredients. I think it hydrated each bit of flour a little more and makes for a smoother dough that requires less kneading. What do you think?
Never tried it that way. You could save yourself some effort and cut down on kneading time by using the autolyse method to hydrate the flour. That would be far more effective and you would not have sieve the flour. Simply mix all ingredients until there is no dry flour left and then let the dough sit for 20 minutes. Gluten will develop itself and your dough will be smoother softer and require less mixing afterwards.
Yes that's obviously for cake and pastry but what about bread? No one really sifts their flour for bread...
I have seen many videos and I have read many recipes which suggest sifting flour for bread. I have even had people suggest it to me in the comments on my videos. So, I had to clear up that misconception 👍
@@ChainBaker but your making cake in this video, not bread. I understand sitting for cake and pastry in general: it's a best practice and results lighter or more tender products. What am I missing?
Great video btw
😁👍
pls do a video about the oven mods
ok how do I weigh 7 oz`s ? not everyone has a scale.
Everyone who is subscribed to this channel does have a scale. It is the only accurate way of measuring ingredients. I write both metric and imperial units so that everyone can weigh their ingredients without converting. Here is a video on measuring - ruclips.net/video/070k4O2Ws1A/видео.html
I have it didn't change a thing. Now I know why
How many eggs is 200gr??
You won't get an exact amount using whole eggs. If you want this recipe to work, then you must weigh the ingredients.
@@ChainBaker ohh
@@ChainBaker i just did it and used four will see how it comes out lol
Sifting flour will make no baking difference, but in the old days and occasionally today, it will capture creepy crawlers that have been found in flours, even flour just purchased from the supermarket.
Eeeeeyummmmy!!
Everyone who is subscribed to this channel does have a scale. how would you know that .I tried one of your breads had to throw it outside on the grass and the squirrels would`nt eat it.
Because everyone who is subscribed here wants to learn how to make bread properly. And the only way to measure ingredients for bread making with any accuracy is buy using scales.
The bread that the squirrels would not eat was made by your hands and that is the only reason why. If you want to understand the principles and make better bread, then do have look in the 'Principles of Baking' playlist. The squirrels will thank you.
7 oz`s of eggs come on man just say 4 eggs and move on . we cant understand your recipes, took me an hour to look up grams and oz`s what a waste of time get with it we cant follow any of your recipes.
Who is 'we'? You are the first one ever to say something like this. Why would you need to look up any conversions? Just weigh your ingredients.