Please tell me if there are any benefits to sifting your box cake mix.
Also if anyone has the best ever chocolate scratch or/white scratch
rec would love for you to share.

In over 25 yrs I have only done that once or twice after reading that it would imporve my cake. I don't think there was any difference so I stopped doing it.

I was told to sift the mix if it had been frozen. But since I've never frozen a box mix, I've never sifted! I can't imagine there would be a noticeable difference.

I usually do sift cake mixes....for me it makes the texture of the cake a little nicer, tighter finer crumb.

Sifting the cake mix was the very first suggestion from CC that I tried. To be very very honest, my initial reaction when I read about doing it was "SOMEbody has WAY too much time on their hands!"

Boy, was I wrong.

Sifting the cake mix cut down on mixing time, removed all the little lumps in the batter (which is why I had to mix it longer), and the cake texture came out BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!! REALLY reduces the air holes in the cake texture .... my cake texture looks like a fine pound cake.

I will never NOT sift a cake mix ever again.

I don't sift, but I whisk it when I dump it in the bowl to get all of the lumps out. It becomes very soft and fine.

Exactly what indydebi said

I agree that sifting does give my cakes a nicer texture. I also find that there are less crumbs when I level and torte my cakes. I always sift unless I am really pressed for time.

I agree with indydeb. I will ALWAYS sift my cake mixes. It does make a huge difference.

Not to mention the hard little lumpies left when I am done sifting...

I ALWAYS sift cake mixes, my dry ingredients for scratch recipes and powderd sugar. Always.

I sift my mixes, to improve the crumb texture, but also do it for another reason. I sift to remove any rare but possible "foreign" objects. Like, the 1/4" piece of white plastic I found last summer, or anything else that might be in there from a manufacturing facility.

I agree - sifting gives the cake a better texture. I always sift the day before and store in ziploc bags. 2 boxes of sifted mix fits nicely into a gallon ziploc storage bag!

Thanks so much for your input. I had been sifting, but wanted to
make sure I was doing it right. You are all great. Thanks!

I never heard of this but I thought about it...asked my dad once and he didn't think it would make a difference. Boy am I glad I found this thread. I will be sifting my next cake you bet!

sweetisome, is your dad a baker, too?

Yes indybebi, he is. He graduated from Johnson and Wales as a pastry chef. He hates that I use box mixes, but for my purposes (which is what I affectionatly refer to as a hobby for profit)it just makes more sense. When I asked him about sifting it was specificly because I was looking for a tighter , finer crumb without sacrificing the lightness and moisture of my cakes.

wow, talk about having a great resource handy!!

I do most of my own research, but whenever I have a real technical problem...a call to Dad really comes in handy!

I swear by sifting cake mix boxes, for all the reasons given. It has made such a difference in the crumb of my cake, as well as the lack of large air pockets.

I always sift all dry ingredients, it's what I was always taught.

Sifting breaks down any little lumps and aerates compounded mixtures.

The higher you hold your sieve the better.

when i sift, i have found pieces in my mix so hard that when i tried to smash them with a spoon, they shot out from under it, never to be seen again!! i find it hard to believe that they would have broken down during cooking if i hadn't have sifted them out first.

i also sifted out a piece of black plastic about the size of a watermelon seed the other day when i was mixing up devil's food mixes...not sure where that came from!

the only time i sift and still dump is when i'm sifting something like strawberry mix with the little pieces of strawberries or one with hershey pieces in it. i sift, then carefully look over all the little pieces before dumping on in...that is how i found the piece of black plastic. you can never be too careful.

i also sift out my sugar...you 'd be amazed at the huge chunks i find when i'm done...i just toss them.

I always sift ALL my dry ingredients. I don't use an actual sifter though. I use a cone shaped "strainer" that I bought at the dollar store. It is a tight mesh like a strainer, but much easier to use and faster. I dump in some flour, sugar, cake mix, or whatever, then "stir" with a spatula or spoon. Works great.

I always sift, sift, sift. I have noticed a difference in the texture of my cakes. The one that i did not sift had all sorts of lumps in the batter and the one that i did sift the batter was silky smooth.

I was always taught to sift dry ingredients as well, but mostly applied that to scratch cakes. Years ago, I noticed that cake mixes had lumps that just wouldn't seem to mix out in the normal amount of "mix time" allocated on the box. I found it to be very frustrating so I decided to start sifting even boxed caked mixes right then and there --have done so ever since.

I never sift my cake mix. I find that the one thing I have to have is my Kitchen Aid stand mixer. It definitely makes a difference in the texture of the cake. I have used different method to mix the cake when I have been away from my house and it's just not the same.

I was always taught to sift dry ingredients as well, but mostly applied that to scratch cakes. Years ago, I noticed that cake mixes had lumps that just wouldn't seem to mix out in the normal amount of "mix time" allocated on the box. I found it to be very frustrating so I decided to start sifting even boxed caked mixes right then and there --have done so ever since.