Should flour that is to be used for making pie crust from scratch be sifted before measuring?!
Should flour that is to be used for making pie crust from scratch be sifted before measuring?
What affect will this have on the finished product?
Answers:
Flour should almost ALWAYS be sifted.
It will aerate the flour and remove any lumps and impurities that may have fallen into your flour. Removing lumps is especially important if you live in a high humidity area... those lumps won't be broken up with your stirring, and you might have little chunks of uncooked flour in your dough.
*In the industry, you'd be surprised what you find in the flour. I found a pea once.
Another note for pie crust making... make sure everything is COLD. Put the butter or shortening in the fridge, the bowl you're mixing in (I use a food processor), even the flour. This will help produce a nice, light flaky crust.
When mixing, the butter/shortening should end up being about the size of small peas. This will also help add to your flakiness.