NorproS/S 3Cup Flour Sifter, 1 EA

Smooth operatingWorks as intended

This is a great little sifter for those times when you only need to sift a few cups of flour at a time for the recipe you are working on right now. For bigger jobs I would recommend something a little larger and of the CRANK variety.In addition to this sifter, we also own one of these: Thunder Group 8 Cup Flour Sifter In terms of cleaning... It is NEVER wise to attempt to clean any flour sifter using water or a dishwasher! Any professional baker will tell you that doing so is a sure fire way to RUIN your sifter! You'll invariably end up with a clogged up screen where the flour turned into a form of cement in all the nooks and crannies.Just knock the excess out of the sifter by tapping the side with the palm of your hand before storing, and if you can't tolerate a little flour residue in your storage area, find a nice Rubbermaid container to place it in before tossing it into your tools drawer or cabinet. If you start to see the screen getting plugged up after heavy use, just take the sifter outside and spray it our with an air compressor or a can of compressed air you can buy at any electronics store. Works great!

I was disappointed in the size of this sifter. Maybe my kitchen misconceptions got the best of me, but I was thinking a standard sifter would be around 3 cups (that's how much recipes usually call for), but this 3 cup sifter doesn't seem that big at all. I wish I had gotten the 5 cup model, because that seems more "average" sifter size. Of course you don't have to worry about "overflow" with the hand trigger that you do with the average crank sifter, so maybe that's where I went wrong.Other than the obvious size misconception, it seems to be made well. There are 2 sifting screens for the flower to be rotated through. The spring loaded handle is easy and comfortable to hold. The stainless steel quality should make this gift a nice gift for my mom to use and wash in the dishwasher (though I have no idea if that is even recommended.)

This was one of the cheaper sifters with a handle. I wanted a handle due to what my grandmother had when I was a kid and I don't care for the rotating type of actions. I have taken to making bread for my daughter as she has a gluten intolerance (have not gotten a Celiac's Diagnosis as when the Dr's tested her we already had her off of it). It works ok, but the flour tends to hang out between the two screen layers.To ensure I don't waste flour and effort I tap the sifter to get the excess out.

Pro: sifts flower wellCon: the bottom is double screened, so it is hard to get all the flower out before storing.I don't like to wash my sifter, just dust it out, so I have been keeping it in a ziplock because of the residual flower. I guess eventually I will have to see how it fairs being washed.

I used it couple of times for flour, sugar, even for coffee creamer... no problems at all. I hand washed it and dried it and it looks good. The metal could be a bit thicker, but it's not too bad. It might be a bit too small for people who bake in large amounts, but it works just fine if you need something for every day use that won't take too much space.

I have large hands so I might be on the fringe, but I find it a little difficult to get my hands into the handle to start the sifting. Otherwise it works great. Don't use this with whole wheat flours though, as the chaff may get stuck in the mechanism.

After less than a year, I'm back to Amazon to find a different sifter as a replacement. We only used it to dust a few cakes with powdered sugar, so I didn't think I needed to invest in an expensive sifter. Today, I see the handle (top) is no longer attached to the cup, making it useless. Now I plan to invest in a better quality sifter and hope it lasts years like my mother's has!