I had previously been sifting through a metal colander and pushing through with a spoon. So when I was at Ikea, I found a little sifter for $5 and decided that would make my life easier.

Got it home, and it sucked. So I decided it was a cheapo, tossed it aside and went to BBB today and got a $10 5 cup sifter thinking all would be well in the world.

Nope.

It SUCKS!

I have trigger fingers, and have only done half the bag! I'm taking a break for now. But man, I can't take this. The WORST part about caking is SIFTING!

Haha, I know what you mean so I just don't bother anymore. I use a whisk and stir the flour instead to aerate it and break up clumps. The only thing I sift is cocoa because the clumps are too solid.

SPOON? Go back to the metal colander. Hold the colander handle in one hand and tap firmly against the other hand. Be sure you have a bowl with a wide opening to catch the flour or whatever.

Yeah, sifting DOES suck, but it sure makes a difference if you make your own fondant. I agree with the tapping method, it works better.....but still sucks! LOL!

I use a big mesh metal strainer and a heavy duty whisk to push it through, works waaay better than the fancy-schmancy sifter my Huband bought me

Sifting is our punishment for being good at cakes! hahahaha. I HATE IT TOO!!!

I have an idea floating in my head for the 'perfect' sifter (it's actually a Chippendale's dancer with a mesh strainer. Hehehe, kidding!) and I need to figure it out fast since it's obvious so many people hate it as much as I do!

ditto on the big mesh strainer. Just "shake shake shake" and it goes thru. don't need a whisk, spoon or anything. At the very very end, my cake mixes have some lumps and I take a piece of wax paper (always have a box of the individual sheets sitting right there!) and use that to smoosh it thru.

Anything that has a hand crank handle or the squeeze-style handle to sift isn't worth being used as a doorstop. Run .... do not walk .... to the trash can with it.

robin, I HOPE you meant 15 seconds!!!

Ok, I'm hitting Walmart for a bigger and better mesh strainer.

A number of years ago, I did some baking bread demo's for a little cook supply shop. She sold a wonderful battery operated sifter. Wonder if they still make them. My favorite sifter was my mom's. Old fashioned with hand crank on the side and 4 (instead of 2) bars inside. I often check out second hand stores for used kitchen items.

Just MHO, battery powered sifter = complete and total crap! Epic. Fail. I spent a good $20 or something ignorant like that on one last summer and it was crap. If you were using it for something like a little sprinkle over the top of something, no prob. If you were actually trying to sift a pound of powdered sugar... well let's just say that 15 minutes is NOT a typo all of a sudden! Ugh. I got so ticked at it that I showed it the hard side of a cement sidewalk.

I hate sifting too, and I'm lazy. I just stir with a wisk and call it good.

On good eats he used a food processor.
I have wondered about that.

hate my 5 cup hand crank, looked at battery powered - not worth crap, now I use a tamis which is a large plate size strainer. Just use a spatula to get the powdered sugar (and cake mix, salt etc.) through. Faster than a sifter, not perfect but I can sift, and I mean really sift it to get the lumps out, a lot of sugar in no time. You can get it at Sur La Table.

When it comes to sifting, simple is better. I love love love my mesh sifter it is far better than the one I bought a few years ago with the squeeze handle. I felt like Popeye but with one giant forearm.

I sift in a strainer because sometimes there are hard things that show up in the bottom. Those I toss.

Here's an interesting tidbit, if anyone cares. If you use a fine mesh strainer and you happen to use a course grain salt like I do... if you ever put too much salt in, you can strain it out. It saved me once so I thought it was worth mentioning!

Could someone post a pict. or a link to what your strainer looks like? The one that I have is quite fine, and takes longer than my sifter to use. TIA

Mine is like this one. http://www.webstaurantstore.com/tablecraft-88-8-medium-stainless-steel-single-mesh-strainer/4079198.html

I need help on this issue, too! Because of this thread, and my hatred of my sifters (both new and old), I got a larger wire mesh strainer like the one pictured above. It took FOREVER to sift a 2 LB bag. I tried tapping, and I tried pushing through w/ a wooden spoon. Both methods sucked. What am I doing wrong?????????????????????????????
Sifting sucks big time!

Forever is a looooong time. I use exactly the same sifter you do and it takes no time at all. I grab the sifter on both sides and use a motion like I'm tossing salad over a big bowl. I am done in under a minute. You just have to use a little force!

Kay I also use a strainer like the one in the photo but it takes literally seconds to sift a two pound bag of sugar. I pour the entire bag into the strainer and shake it, kind of straight up and down, over a large bowl.

KayMc, you may have had a very fine mesh. I use a medium size.

OK, I'll check out my mesh, AND I'll use more force. Thanks, guys! I want this to be as fast as you can do it!!