Often the words "fluff" and "sift" get used interchangeably when you're dealing with flour, but there is a difference. Fluffing flour is much like fluffing a pillow -- jostling it about to redistribute the compacted particles. As a discussion over at Kraftfoods.com explains, fluffing flour involves scooping it and letting it fall to prevent a compacted and heavier flour measurement. (And just to make things more confusing, you can also "loosen" the flour to achieve the same result.) Sifting, on the other hand, is the process of aerating flour in order to produce lighter baked goods, whether by using one of those metal contraptions or a basic sieve.But if you really want to be a baking master, you can end a lot of the fuss by weighing flour. Fluffing, after all, was invented because the weight of one cup of flour can vary wildly, whereas a scale's measurement never does. Fluffing and sifting may yield debate -- and unnecessary hassle -- but a good scale can yield indubitably delicious baked goods.
What Can I Get You Folks? - Eating Out for Thanksgiving
In Defense of Guy Fieri
'Top Chef Vegas' - And Then There Were Five
