My husband just brought me this, it's awesome. I've never seen one before so was apprehensive about using it but it works a dream. Have any of you heard of these?

more than 20 years ago i was teaching a cake deco class and one lady had a cell phone which was ultra expensive and most rare at that time--car cell phones were just starting to be installed--portable cell phones were only seen in the movies--she actually got calls during class and i was a bit amazed by it all--well she also had an electric sifter that she highly recommended--she was so out of my league at the time i just dismissed it all--

but then fast forward to now--yes what a great idea that is--it would increase your production and minimize your effort--perfect combination --i love it! i hate sifting but i never really considered an electric one because it's been locked in my 'too extravagant file'--and they are not commonly found either--looks like it has a lid too which would hopefully help contain the dust cloud.

♥ it

That's pretty cool.  Just wondering...does sifting serve another purpose besided properly measuring flour?  Is it just the same to weigh the flour so as to not have to sift?

yes and it eliminates lumps and bits in the powder too--either by breaking up the softer ones or when you discard the leftover bits found in the bottom of the sifter--it's an insurance thing

I'm ashamed to say how long it has been sitting looking at me without me even opening the box as I too thought it was a gadget. It was only after my husband mentioned it (possibly more than once) that I actually opened it and used it as I felt bad. I'm so cross with myself as it's such a time saver! and yes, it has a cover too, plus it "sticks" to the counter with rubber feet. Really excellent, the sifting is done by the time I've poured 1 cup of sugar into the mixer.

This is intriguing. I do a lot of macarons and sifting the almond meal/icing sugar is the longest/crappiest part. Do you know what causes the sifting action? Is it a vibration or is there something pushing the flour through the sieve? It makes me wonder if one could attach a motor to a regular sifter ...

I too make macaroons but haven't tired it yet for anything but flour. It's electric so it plugs into the socket, click the switch and voila!

If you weigh your flour and powdered sugar for macarons, I have a tip for "sifting" them.  I weigh them out, put them in a large Gladware container, put the lid on, and shake the c**p out of it.  Works great to get out lumps, and mix the two together.  And my macarons always come out very pretty. :)

Liz

That is a good tip, I do essentially the same thing into a large Rubbermaid flour container (I almost wish I had one of those paint can shakers!). I also stopped grinding my almond/sugar mixture like you're 'supposed' to. I just sift into the bowl and grind whatever doesn't sift through - well if I'm being honest I dump it back into my large container to grind later!

I'm wondering if a kitchenaid grain mill would work well for grinding and sifting? I think its the only attachment neither me nor my mom have! So expensive. And as I was typing this I thought "why doesn't kitchenaid have a sifter attachment?" Well I googled and it seems like they at least had one designed: http://www.coroflot.com/kylegati/kitchenaid-project. Or perhaps that guy just designed one on his own.

I have the grain mill, I'm not sure it would work well for that.  I use it for cracking specialty grains for beer making.  If you tried it for sifting almond meal, it may get hot and release oil (the almond meal) because it is being forced through an auger. 

Liz

AGood call - you just saved me a bunch of money :)