Dusting my bakes with a sieve vs. the old days of just using my fingers

Ngl, I used to just sprinkle flour on my bench with my bare hands for 10 years until I finally bought a proper fine-mesh sieve last spring. At my aunt’s bakery in Portland we’d just grab handfuls and toss it, but now I sift everything for my laminated doughs and it’s way more even. Has anyone else made the switch from rough tossing to sieving and noticed a big difference?

2 comments

2 Comments

garcia.charles4d ago

I gotta push back on the "way more even" part. I've been doing this 15 years and I never had trouble with uneven dusting using my fingers. You just gotta get a feel for it. A sieve is fine if you like it, but it's not like it makes better dough. My grandma used her hands her whole life and her croissants were perfect every time. Honestly I think people overcomplicate stuff now. It's flour, not rocket science.

thompson.christopher3d agoTop Commenter

Stand with you on this one. Ive been baking for about 10 years and my grandma never touched a sieve for dusting either. Her hands just knew how much flour to flick and where. People act like you need a chemistry lab to make a decent loaf of bread. Half the gadgets in baking stores are just solving problems that never existed. If your dough is sticking too much, thats a hydration or technique thing, not a sieve thing. Sometimes the old ways are just as good and a lot less fuss.

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