The word "sift" derives from "sieve". In cooking, a sifter is used to separate and break up clumps in dry ingredients such as flour, as well as to aerate and combine them. A strainer is a form of sieve used to separate suspended solids from a liquid by filtration.
People often use the words strainer and sieve interchangeably. A whole lot of it even depends on what you are doing. The same person can use the same mesh strainer for straining lumps out of gravy with, and call it a “strainer”, and the next day use it to sift icing sugar or flour with, and call it a “sifter.” Many people refer to a colander as a strainer at times. Some use the word sieve to mean a flour sifter. Some recipes call for “sifted flour”; others word it as “sieved flour.”
When pressed to think about it, though, many people might say that a strainer has large holes and can be used for draining things such as boiled pasta or potatoes, or washed berries, while a sieve is usually made of a mesh with finer holes, and is used for dry things.
At any rate, the act of straining or sieving pretty can mean pretty much the same thing. Though perhaps while sieving is passing an item through very small holes so that larger, unwanted particles remain behind, straining is often designed to do the opposite: let unwanted material such as water pass through while keeping the desired material behind. But this is not always the case.
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Answer:
The word "sift" derives from "sieve". In cooking, a sifter is used to separate and break up clumps in dry ingredients such as flour, as well as to aerate and combine them. A strainer is a form of sieve used to separate suspended solids from a liquid by filtration.
Explanation:
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Answer:
“Strain the mixture through a sieve…”
People often use the words strainer and sieve interchangeably. A whole lot of it even depends on what you are doing. The same person can use the same mesh strainer for straining lumps out of gravy with, and call it a “strainer”, and the next day use it to sift icing sugar or flour with, and call it a “sifter.” Many people refer to a colander as a strainer at times. Some use the word sieve to mean a flour sifter. Some recipes call for “sifted flour”; others word it as “sieved flour.”
When pressed to think about it, though, many people might say that a strainer has large holes and can be used for draining things such as boiled pasta or potatoes, or washed berries, while a sieve is usually made of a mesh with finer holes, and is used for dry things.
At any rate, the act of straining or sieving pretty can mean pretty much the same thing. Though perhaps while sieving is passing an item through very small holes so that larger, unwanted particles remain behind, straining is often designed to do the opposite: let unwanted material such as water pass through while keeping the desired material behind. But this is not always the case.