Back in your grandmother’s day, most kitchens were equipped with a flour sifter. This simple but handy little gadget was essential for aerating flour to turn out excellent bread, cakes, cookies and pies. Fast-forward to today and the refined flour we now use doesn’t usually need to be sifted in everyday baking. But that doesn’t mean the flour sifter has gone the way of the Dodo bird. It is still an important tool in baking.
Most home bakers keep a flour sifter on hand to remove clumps from flour, loosening it back into a light product to make it more accurate to measure. It is also used to mix together other dry ingredients for a cake batter, icing or dough. This versatile baking tool is ideal to flour a work surface or to sprinkle powdered sugar or cocoa onto a finished product.
A flour sifter is an affordable must-have for your baking arsenal. We feature six models you can purchase online. Read on to find the one that best suits your needs.
1. Editor’s Choice: MaMix Stainless Steel Flour Sifter
Some things never go out of style, like a hand-crank flour sifter, reminiscent of days gone by. Your grandmother may have had one in her kitchen that she used to aerate the flour for baking fresh bread, cookies or cakes.
If you are starting out and equipping your kitchen with cooking and baking essentials, we recommend this model from MaMix. This three-cup sifter is simple but effective. Hold the sifter with one hand and pour in the flour. Still holding the sifter, turn the crank handle with your other hand to move the two wire agitators. The agitators rub the flour against the fine mesh liner and push the finer particles through. Continue to turn the crank until all the flour is used and you’re done. This simple tool will make quick work of sifting flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda or other dry ingredients you need to whip together your next recipe.
Made from stainless steel, the flour sifter is rust-resistant and lightweight. Measuring 5.5 inches x six inches x six inches, it tucks away neatly into a drawer or kitchen cupboard. Easy to clean, too – simply wash in hot soapy water, rinse and let dry.
Pros:
- Affordable
- Easy to use
- Made from stainless steel
- Rust resistant
- Easy to clean
Cons:
- Three-cup capacity may be too small for some baking needs
- Needs two hands to operate
2. Runner Up: ChefGiant 2.5 Cup Sifter
Sometimes you need to sift flour into other ingredients and mix it at the same time – a task that isn’t possible using a hand-crank design. If you find that baking requires you to have one hand to sift and one to stir, then we recommend this model.
This semi-automatic, small capacity 2.5-cup sifter is ideal for aerating flour, fluffing up batter and mixing fine ingredients evenly. So convenient to use and easy to operate with one hand, just add in the amount of flour you need and squeeze the trigger handle repeatedly to activate the agitators that push ingredients through the 16 mesh screen. Perfect for pastries that require a very light, delicate texture.
Made from corrosion-resistant polished stainless steel, this flour sifter is built to last. The ideal choice for all of your small-yield recipes, decorative dusting and small quantity sifting needs.
Pros:
- Semi-automatic, one-handed use
- Made from rust-resistant, polished stainless steel
- 16 mesh screen for sifting fine ingredients
Cons:
- Small capacity
- Requires a level of strength to operate
3. Best Versatile: CCTT Stainless Steel Round Sifter
If you love to cook and are eager to have your children learn the art of baking and decorating bread, cookies, cakes and pies, then it’s a good idea for them to have their own kitchen gadgets and tools so you can work side by side.
When there are two bakers in the kitchen working at the same time, we recommend this flour sifter set that even children will find easy to use. These sieve-style sifters come in two sizes – six inches in diameter and eight inches in diameter. Made from high-quality 304-stainless steel to resist rust, they are lightweight with a reinforced bottom seam, making them strong enough to endure years of use.
The 60-mesh fine mesh sieves are perfect for flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sprinkling cocoa or powdered sugar on cakes, cookies and pies. Just pour the amount of dry ingredients you want to sift into the sieve, shake gently and in no time you have what you need. With two sieves, you can keep the little bakers busy – while you sift flour with the larger sized sieve, the kids can have fun sifting a delicious cocoa/icing sugar powder onto the finished product.
And when all the baking is done, the sifters are easy to clean with soap and water. The smaller one nests neatly into the larger for convenient storage. With these sifters, you can say goodbye to clumpy flour for good.
Pros:
- Two flour sieves of different sizes
- 60-mesh sieves
- Made from rust-resistant 304 stainless-steel
- Easy to store, easy to clean
Cons:
- More expensive than one flour sifter
4. Best Battery Operated: Battery Operated Electric Flour Sifter For Baking
Over the years you have become quite the accomplished baker, delighting family and friends with all manner of fresh bread, cakes and pastries. Sadly, the years have not been kind to your hands and as arthritis has settled in, the stiffness and pain in your hands and fingers make even the simple task of sifting flour difficult.
If you don’t want to stop baking the foods you love, consider adding this battery-operated flour sifter to your arsenal of kitchen tools. This sifter has a one-push button start and stop that activates 5600 RPMs, sifting flour quicker and easier than turning a crank or squeezing a handle.
The ergonomically designed handle on this model is comfortable to hold, so even if you have a weak grip, you can use it successfully. This flour sifter is made from BPA-free materials and a stainless steel fine mesh screen. The main bowl and mesh are easy to clean, although the handle, which contains the batteries, should never be washed or soaked in water.
The large four-cup capacity offers flexibility of use, although when sifting powdered sugar, small amounts should be used at a time. Powered by two AA batteries, you’ll never have to worry that pain and stiffness will keep you from doing what you love.
Pros:
- Works with batteries
- Four-cup capacity
- One push start/stop on handle
- Made from BPA materials and stainless steel mesh
Cons:
- Batteries not included
- Mesh needs to be remove for cleaning
- Main body can be washed directly but the handle should not be washed or soaked in water
- Keep out of the reach of children
5. Best Large Capacity: ChefGiant Flour Sifter
Maybe you do a lot of baking for family or friends. Or perhaps you’ve started your own small at-home baking company and that means whipping up large quantities of artisan breads and cakes. Whatever the case, the amount of baking you do requires large capacity bakeware and utensils to get the job done.
If you are looking for a large capacity flour sifter, then we recommend this eight-cup hand-crank model from ChefGiant. Say goodbye to clumps and hello to perfectly aerated flour, sugar and other dry ingredients to give your baked goods a light and fluffy texture.
Also good for flouring your workspace or giving food a light dusting of powdered sugar, this flour sifter has a durable construction, made from premium corrosion-resistant stainless steel, with a highly polished body. Unlike some plastic and wood products, stainless steel does not absorb bacteria or smells, and the beater is chrome plated with wire reinforcement on the bottom.
The hand-crank design operates smoothly and effortlessly and can stand up to repeated use without tiring your hand, even when you’re busy baking all day. The 16 fine mesh screen has a smaller weave and holes for sifting finer ingredients and will also remove any unwanted lumps to create a final professional-tasting product every time.
Measuring eight inches in diameter x seven inches high, even though it can hold eight cups of flour, it will still store neatly away in a cupboard or drawer. Makes an ideal gift for that special person growing their home-baking business.
Pros:
- Large eight-cup capacity
- Smooth hand-crank design
- Durable stainless steel construction
- Chrome-plated beater
- 16 fine mesh screen
Cons:
- May be too large for some needs
6. Best Gift Set: HULISEN 4-in-1 Pastry Making Set
For anyone in your group of family or friends who is just starting their baking journey, this pastry making set is the ideal gift to get them on the road to successfully producing perfect pastries, bread and cakes. It includes four pieces – everything an aspiring baker needs to have on hand at all times!
The three-cup flour sifter is constructed from lightweight, rust-resistant, food-grade stainless steel. The reliable manual hand-crank method of sifting has been a stalwart in home kitchens for generations, producing light and aerated flour.
Many hand crank sifters have two wire agitators, but this model has four wire agitators for ease of use and a more delicate end product. Equipped with a comfortable soft grip handle, you don’t have to worry about hand and wrist fatigue.
The set comes with a matching dough blender, five biscuit cutters, and a pastry scraper. All of these tools are made from durable stainless steel and designed for ease of use. The dough blender can be used to cut butter into flour when making a light pastry dough or shortbread cookies. A versatile tool, it can also be used to chop fruit, soft vegetables and make guacamole. Biscuit cutters are perfect for cutting out cookies, but can also come in handy for making perfect pancakes or sunny side up eggs, or shaping cakes and rice balls. Lastly, the pastry scraper will be useful when cleaning up dough from a working surface, smoothing out frosting, or transferring baking ingredients or dough in a matter of seconds.
As a gift for a friend or family member or as a treat for yourself, this complete pastry making set doesn’t disappoint.
Pros:
- Three-cup capacity hand-crank flour sifter
- Made from lightweight, rust-resistant stainless steel
- Set includes a dough blender, pastry scraper, and five biscuit cutters
Cons:
- More expensive than a single hand-crank flour sifter
Things to look out for:
Consider these things when looking for a flour sifter so you will choose one that best suits your needs:
Use and capacity: Before purchasing a flour sifter, consider how much baking you do. If you bake often and use large quantities of flour in your recipes, then choose a model with a minimum four-cup capacity. If you just want to sift powdered sugar on a finished baked good, flour a work surface, or make small quantities of baked goods at a time, a two or three-capacity will suffice.
Design: Flour sifters come in a variety of designs and work pretty much the same. However, there are some differences to consider. A hand-crank model has been used by home bakers for generations and is a reliable method of sifting flour. Some have one or two agitators that scrape the flour through a wire mesh bottom, while others boast three or four agitators. The important thing to remember when looking for a hand-crank model is to make sure the agitators scrape the wire mesh to push the flour through.
A hand-crank sifter takes two hands to operate, so some bakers prefer a model that requires only one hand to operate. These have a handle that you squeeze to activate the agitators. While these work well, they do need a certain amount of strength to work and repeated use can result in hand and wrist fatigue when sifting large amounts of flour.
Finally, for anyone with arthritic hands and fingers, there are electric and battery operated models that do all the sifting for you quickly and easily, making it a pleasant and pain-free experience.