recommendation for hand crank sifter for high extraction flour
I'm looking for a hand crank sifter to make high extraction flour. I'm currently using a 40 mesh round sifter. It takes a long time to sift the flour, and I invariably make a mess. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Happy Baking, friends!
Dan recommends some nice bucket-friendly sieves, which I briefly considered, but they didn't have the granularity I was looking for.
I didn't find any adequate hand crank options (mostly small pastry dusters). I briefly considered an oscillating mechanical sieve shaker. In the end, some sifting benchmarks in that thread using plain old (but large) test sieves with tight-fitting lids to support shaking convinced me that was the right approach for the volume I needed. I think the key properties are:
large surface area: I initially bought a few small 6" test sieves online to save money, but now use 12" sieves -- the larger surface area is critical
coarse-to-fine configuration: I use a #30,#40,#50 some manufacturers only make 30/50, and I find that to be too big a leap
tight-fitting lid and basin: People seem to use a mix and match approach from their pantry to find a lid and basin that fit the sieves, but since I had yet to buy the sieves I wanted something that would fit together out of the box
Most test sieve options seem to cater to lab environments, and a good 12-inch test sieve can be more than $100. The lid and basin, if available, aren't cheap either, and the configuration I wanted to work with can cost hundreds of dollars from common lab suppliers. I searched through the link that @albacore posted at the bottom of that thread and was able to order a 12-inch #30/#40/#50 stack with a matching lid and basin for about $120.00. The fit is reasonably snug, but still requires a strap over the top when shaking. After about 45 seconds of shaking, I open it up and use a plastic dough scraper to rake the bran back and forth across each of the test sieves for a few seconds before collecting the remaining bran and flour. It is really quite fast with the right setup.
Here is a link to one of the sieves I purchased for $23.75. In general, they work pretty well, although I would rank the quality as adequate or "good enough". In comparison, I have a couple of small sieves from Vollum, and they feel like you could drive your car over them. I didn't find the lid or basin from Vollum and they don't offer #40 or many other screen sizes in general. There is a folded metal lip on the lower side of these new sieves, which is a bad design for the application and catches a little bit of flour each time, which would be nice not to have to deal with.
A comparable test sieve from Gilson is about $127.50. The quality seems a lot nicer, and I believe they have lids and basins, but I wasn't willing to shell out $600 or so for the stack I wanted to put together.
I cannot thank you enough for your thorough response and suggestions. This is definitely the way to go for me! What a welcoming and helpful community. I'm truly grateful.
To may find something of interest in this link.
https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/62237/bolting-sifting-comparison-1-pass-vs-5-passes
Thanks so much! What a clever setup. Might be worth investing in the massager.
I was searching for the exact same thing recently. I wanted a simple option for sifting and didn't want yet another appliance for our small space.
I would recommend taking a look at this thread too: https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/62242/60-mesh-too-small-flour
Dan recommends some nice bucket-friendly sieves, which I briefly considered, but they didn't have the granularity I was looking for.
I didn't find any adequate hand crank options (mostly small pastry dusters). I briefly considered an oscillating mechanical sieve shaker. In the end, some sifting benchmarks in that thread using plain old (but large) test sieves with tight-fitting lids to support shaking convinced me that was the right approach for the volume I needed. I think the key properties are:
Most test sieve options seem to cater to lab environments, and a good 12-inch test sieve can be more than $100. The lid and basin, if available, aren't cheap either, and the configuration I wanted to work with can cost hundreds of dollars from common lab suppliers. I searched through the link that @albacore posted at the bottom of that thread and was able to order a 12-inch #30/#40/#50 stack with a matching lid and basin for about $120.00. The fit is reasonably snug, but still requires a strap over the top when shaking. After about 45 seconds of shaking, I open it up and use a plastic dough scraper to rake the bran back and forth across each of the test sieves for a few seconds before collecting the remaining bran and flour. It is really quite fast with the right setup.
Here is a link to one of the sieves I purchased for $23.75. In general, they work pretty well, although I would rank the quality as adequate or "good enough". In comparison, I have a couple of small sieves from Vollum, and they feel like you could drive your car over them. I didn't find the lid or basin from Vollum and they don't offer #40 or many other screen sizes in general. There is a folded metal lip on the lower side of these new sieves, which is a bad design for the application and catches a little bit of flour each time, which would be nice not to have to deal with.
A comparable test sieve from Gilson is about $127.50. The quality seems a lot nicer, and I believe they have lids and basins, but I wasn't willing to shell out $600 or so for the stack I wanted to put together.
I cannot thank you enough for your thorough response and suggestions. This is definitely the way to go for me! What a welcoming and helpful community. I'm truly grateful.