Food Fights

To sift or not to sift

Cookbook author Rose Levy Beranbaum analyzed cake ingredients that were sifted together and compared them to the same ingredients that had been stirred with a mixer or simply a fork. She analyzed how well the flour, baking powder, salt, and other particles were distributed by the two methods, and concluded that stirring was more efficient than sifting; however, sifting contributed to a cake’s texture by aerating the particles.

Personally, I haven’t sifted dry ingredients in years. I use a whisk to blend and fluff them up, with good results. If baking soda is lumpy, I push it through a sieve with a spoon.

Do you sift, or do you whisk? We’d like to hear from you about this or other kitchen controversies. Write to us at foodfights@digitalhearth.com.

Last Bite

Organizing My Recipes

My husband snickered when I told him I was going to organize all of my loose recipes—those tattered clippings, torn sheets from magazines, index cards, booklets decorated with post-it notes, and so on. I thought the snicker carried a note of disbelief.

I have one large kitchen drawer, two cardboard file boxes, and several bulging folders full of loose recipes. Several of my favorite cookbooks have enough loose recipes in them to bend the bindings. Some of these recipes date back to the 1970s. I keep pulling out the same recipes near the top of the various piles but truthfully, I have no idea what lies below the top half-inch or so. It’s time to do some archeology. And it’s January, a new year, new millennium (according to some), and high time for a fresh start.

The first step in organizing recipes is to make a trip to the nearest large office supply store and find just the right system. I know that if I let things get too complicated, I will never follow through, so I’m keeping it simple: file folders (in pretty colors) and two sturdy plastic file boxes with lids (so I can stack them in a corner of the pantry, close to my shelves of cookbooks).

The next step is to make a definite date with myself and protect a block of time. I am allowing myself four hours for the first (and hopefully only) session. It will be on Wednesday morning, right after the kids leave for school.

Here’s my method: go through the clippings, one at a time, and separate everything into three piles. One, recipes I’ve tried and loved. Two, untried recipes that sound different or special. Three, the recipes that are either hopelessly complicated or just don’t spark my interest.

Then I will throw away Pile Three. Maybe toss it into the wood stove so I can’t have second thoughts.

Finally, I will make some simple subject folders (Salads, Meat-Poultry-Seafood, Desserts, and so on) and start sorting. I will end up with a lot of sorted recipes and a big pile of miscellaneous things like watermelon punch and homemade dog biscuits. I’ll put the miscellaneous ones into a folder labeled "Other" and probably never look at them again.

Finally, I will think of how to use that freed-up kitchen drawer. (I have a few ideas.) You may have noticed that all of this is written in the future tense. You can call me on Thursday and ask how it went. But please don’t snicker if I’m not quite done.