Here's What You Can Use If You Don't Have A Sifter

Flour — whether it be all-purpose, wheat, self-rising, or cake flour — is a staple in nearly every baking recipe. In things like cakes, cookies, muffins, and, of course, bread, flour is often the primary ingredient and creates the base for said baked good. While you can occasionally get away with just dumping flour into your mixing bowl straight from the bag, depending on the recipe, sometimes you may need to sift it first. Sifting removes any excess lumps in your flour and can make it lighter and easier to mix into other ingredients.

The most popular gadget to use for sifting is, well, a sifter. It looks like a metal mug with a very fine strainer inside that turns over with the help of a crank, thus breaking up the flour as it moves through. However, if you're faced with a recipe that requires you to sift your flour and you don't have a sifter — fear not. There's another common kitchen gadget you can use instead.

For anyone without a sifter, many bloggers and home cooks say that your standard wire whisk will work almost as good when it comes to separating flour. Taste of Home explains that whisking flour breaks up any unwanted chunks as well as aerates the flour, leaving it fluffy and soft. You can whisk it after pouring it into your bowl or, if the recipe asks you to measure sifted flour, Joy the Baker says that she just dips her whisk right into the flour bag. Even better, Tasting Table adds that cleaning a whisk is a lot easier than cleaning the complicated contraption that is a sifter. Win-win.

Psst! If you also don't have a whisk, you can use a fork or a fine mesh strainer to break up your flour, according to Tasting Table. Note that these methods aren't as effective, however, so it should only be used in a pinch.